The Misfits, Series 1: The Beginning of All Things
by Lord CyroMinion
Summary: The 28th Budokai has passed. The threat of Buu was 10 years ago. Goku and the Z-Senshi thought their lives would finally slow down from there. They'll soon learn just how wrong they really are when they are thrown into a massively confusing merger of many realities, meeting many new friends, but making new foes... Progressive-Crossover of many series, minus GT's plotline/plotholes.
1. Prolouge: Destiny Meet The Misfits

Prologue: Destiny, Meet the Misfits

(August 28, 2001 A.D.; 2:25am EST; somewhere over California on plane)

The skies over California where mostly cloudy, mainly overcast, creating a haze of darkness in the air. Only few things could be detected by a person standing on the ground below. One such object in the sky would be a American made plane which looked much like any other from so far below. It's wing lights easily showed up in the sky to alert people and other planes in the air of it's presence. No one would really think this plane is any different from other planes flying at this time. However they are not aware that aboard this plane are several occupants who's lives are about to change, and change the lives of those around them.

Up and inside the plane itself, there was of course the normal cabin area in the middle of the plane, and then the first class in the back of the plane. Our special little occupants where actually in the first class section. As we go inside, of course we know they are not the only ones in first class, but they are in the front row.

'Why?' would one ask: because one of the 8 in the front has won an important contest where he could take up to 7 friends with him on an all expense-paid, first class trip. And where was this trip going you ask?

"Man, how much longer to Japan?" asked one of them. We can't see what he looks like directly, but from his silhouette, we can tell he is roughly 6 feet 4 inches, with a slightly wide head, and appearing to show the frames of a pair of glasses over his ears.

"Dude, calm down and shut up. We've still got roughly 12 hours or more." grumbled another kid sitting next to him, much smaller, about 5 feet 8 inches, a bit round on the sides, and appearing to wear a small grey hoodie had replied to his friend.

Another kid sat next to the taller boy. This one appeared to be about 6 feet even, and was a decent amount round, and he appeared to be wearing headphones on his head. What he was listening to was unknown to us, but he seemed to be doing it to ignore the people on his right, including the other two mentioned boys.

Next to him was yet another teenage boy, with a much less wide frame than the other boy, who was about 5 feet 9 inches in height, and he was also wearing headphones, but again, we cannot tell what he is listening to at this time.

Further down the row next to him is a boy around the same height, but much thinner than the other aforementioned boys, and also appearing to be wearing glasses like the tallest boy, and with a closely shaved head, almost devoid of hair. He appears to be talking with yet another tall and somewhat round boy next to him.

"That's actually a good idea. You outta keep practicing that move." the smaller kid said to his taller and older friend.

"I wish I was doing better though. It's not easy to practice entire move sets of various WWE wrestlers when you're just starting out." the taller kid replied back.

"I just hope this trip will relieve some of the stress of school." the smaller kid replied.

"Yeah, like the stupid freshmen under the command of 'jackass'." the taller kid grumbled, not happy with a few select students from the school he, the smaller kid and all the other mentioned came from.

Back at the right end of the seats, next to the 5 foot 8 inch boy in the hoodie was one other tall kid, about 6 feet 2 inches, sitting in a lone seat right across the isle. He wasn't sitting there because he was an outcast. Far from it. He was using the seat to scope out the flight attendants coming around up front. And boy was he looking on good.

The boy in the hoodie looked over to him, "Hey retard, are you still perving on the attendants?"

"Look at her, and tell me you couldn't." the taller boy replied back, pointing to a tightly dressed red-headed flight attendant in her young 20s, about 5 feet 7 inches, with a tight bosom and all the other good features.

The smaller boy looked over and replied, "Well yeah, I can see why you like her, but must you be so obvious?! You're gonna get burned again if you keep it up!"

"Well, I still don't see YOU with a girl either, so we're still even. Talk to me about this again when you actually pick up one." the taller boy replied back in a voice that feigned hurt.

"Whatever, you're never gonna get anywhere that way." the smaller boy said to the taller one.

"Does she have an ass or what?" the tall one asked suddenly, changing the subject a little.

"Well yeah, I'm not denying that! I'm not gay, you know!" the small one replied, annoyed at how too blunt his friend was.

On the left side of the room, a similar lone seat rests. Sitting in this seat is the oddest looking of the whole eight friends. She is the only girl of them, however standing at an abnormal height of 6 feet 6 inches, it makes her taller than any woman on the whole plane, and most if not all of the men on the plane. Her figure is slender however, and similar to most attractive girls and woman, despite her abnormal tallness. However her height is just the beginning of her abnormalness. By all truth of it all, if she had known where Japan was on the world map, she could've likely flown there on her own without boarding the plane with her friends, as told by the two large, purplish-black wings that easily reached down almost to the floor. The form of her shoulders from the back also made it appear she was wearing something almost like a shoulder-plate.

She did look attractive, at least for the most part, but her wings and height made people fear her to an extent, and she had been a target of unwanted harassment at her school for her appearance. Little did she or most of her friends realize, but the one tall kid with the wrestling obsession had been referring to that harassment as the reason he was so mad at the freshmen. This was because he was in truth in a full crush with the girl. Only his friend with the glasses had known anything of the crush, but kept it between both him and his older friend.

The girl had however been listening with her semi-sensitive ears at the antics of the tall boy in the lone seat at the end of the row, and the small boy in the hoodie, and as she heard them, mostly the taller one, blabbing something new about the flight attendant, anyone looking at her would've now see one of her eyes visibly twitching.

_Oh no they didn't..._ she grumbled to her self mentally. She looked at both of them tensely, and the wrestling-obsessed boy had caught her glare out of the corner of his eye.

He sighed inwardly with relief when he realized he wasn't the target, but soon he realized who was as he saw the girl grumble, "Hokaku!1" as two greenish beams snaked from her hands, one each aimed at the two boys.

The wrestling-obsessed boy, as well as anyone else who saw the beam go past them, watched in amusement as the boy in the hoodie and the taller, lecherous boy where hit, and suddenly begin to get smaller in size, shrinking down to about the size of mice.

"What the hell?!" asked the taller boy.

"Aw shit! Smooth move, Abercrombie and Bitch!" the hoodie-wearing kid replied with a mocking anger.

"If you two don't knock it off, I'll keep you that way, and next time, I'll feed you to Oscar!" the winged girl grumbled, referring to a cat she kept at her home, but not really intending on doing it, only to scare the two boys.

The taller boy went slightly white, and the hoodie-wearing boy grumbled obscenities at the taller one for his idiocy and getting them both shrunk again. Apparently the girl had used the power on them before.

The taller, more round kid with the headphones near them spoke up at the hoodie wearing kid, smirking, "What did you do this time, you clown?"

"Shut up, fatty! I didn't ask for your comment!" the hoodie-wearing kid spoke back in anger.

The smaller kid with the headphones just sighed to himself, not bothering to speak. _Not again... when will those two learn not to piss her off?_

(Unknown Date; Unknown Time; Unknown Location)

The unholy cathedral glimmered with evil energies as a strange figure in a blackish red robe walked up the steps. His robe was inscribed with demonic writings and runes, and underneath his head, his face, human in appearance, but devilishly evil, snickered in approval. Apparently things were going according to plan.

He entered through an archway into a room full of what appeared to be Hell-born horrors. Undead, demons and other evil spirits alike were crowded around an alter, on which stood a large silhouette, around 10 feet in height, and easily their most powerful. The man walked all the way up to the alter, and kneeled in front of it.

"My lord, your plan is working excellently. They are on their way to the nexus point. They should arrive there within another 25 to 30 hours. Once they are assembled, the restablization of the worlds should finally begin once again. Your brethren's attempts to stop you will finally be undone!" the robed man spoke up.

The giant-looking figure on the alter, still in a shadow as black as night, began to arise from his throne, as his eyes glowed an unearthly red, striking fear into any human with ease. His body outline was also revealed by the burning white-flaming aura around his body, giving off such heat mere mortals would melt into puddles by even being within miles of.

**"Excellent, my loyal cultlord. It will only be a matter of time before this Hell of a prison is rendered useless to me. Then I will wage my original campaign. I will show my brother who is truly the wiser among us, as he sees his universe crumble before him at my power."** the figure of their master spoke up. Although his voice was loud, it was a naturally loud boom instead of an actual attempt at a scream or yell. The voice would easily unsettle even a braver soul who was near it.

At this, the many demons, and the cultlord in the robes began to cheer and dance as most bloodthristy creatures did in anticipation of blood. They could taste it already. Blood, power, killing, torture, and annihilation where their goals, and they would not be stopped, as no being in the universe could imagine what they were capable of, or of what they were preparing for. When the leader of the demons had said "Hell of a prison", he had literally meant "Hell", as that were where he had been imprisoned.

Cocytus, the center of Hell was not considered a pretty place by far, for not even Lucifer, the supposed "Satan" of biblical mythology had ever imagined the center of Hell would've been this desolate. The skies literally rained the blood of the damned, staining the ground and making giant, flesh-like carnivorous plants grow from the ground on the little soil that could grow. The blue-hot lava flows stained the landscape like scars that could never heal. And even the lava itself could occasionally give birth to demons of the molten flames called "Chthonites".

Yet another ironic property of Hell was that climates in various sections where vastly different. Most humans would've never imagined that the very heart of Hell, where the temple of the demonlord stood could've been erected of ice and snow, a vast contrast to the rest of Hell2. Only few, such as the human poet Durante degli Alighieri3 would have any idea how true their theories really were. The demonlord's power over the climate was not to be denied, he himself having personally commanded the atmosphere to create a vast mountain of ice and snow for the temple to lie on.

The demonlord walked back into his personal chambers, and sat down on the floor, in a cross-legged position, much like masters of Buddha and Zen would do, and began to meditate in a similar fashion to the same so-called 'religions'. 

He thought heavily to himself, **_My minions are extremely pleased phase one is almost over, and even my newest and more powerful recruits seem eager to exact vengeance on the mortals that destroyed them long ago. But why do I have a feeling my brother has yet to show his final trump? Does he really expect that any mortal can defeat me?! Preposterous! My brother and I are equally the most powerful beings in all of known existence! The only difference between us is that I'm evil, and he is good, and good is stupid, and too honorable to break their own rules. Of course, this can't hold completely true. My brother DID banish me to this 'Hell' with no real reason. However that was all I needed to be convinced... REALITY MUST BE PURGED. I MUST SHOW THAT IDIOT THE ERROR OF HIS WAYS! I TRIED TO WARN HIM OF THE APPROACHING DISASTER, BUT HE SHRUGGED IT OFF LIKE THE OVERCONFIDENT "GOD" HE THINKS HE IS._**

Not able to take the thoughts of his brother anymore the Demonlord opened his eyes with a feral scream that easily shook the entire foundation of not only Hell's heart, but the quakes of his anger would easily reach the outer borders of Hell. Any other occupants there would more than likely be in fear and awe of the energies he gave out. ** _ Just as they should be. Just as ANYONE should be. I will show them all! My brother and his pet mortals will pay for this, all of them with their lives! Just they wait!! Not even the greatest heroes of all the shattered, soon-to-be reunited universes combined will even be able to scratch me! My brother's plan to keep me here is about to shatter, and it's all because of his own precious mortals!_**

He then floated upwards, out of his own personal chambers, placing himself on the top spire of his temple, as he looked out over the entirety of Hell, even places his other generals and minions would never be able to see from the same position. **"HEAR ME BROTHER! HELL WILL COME TO EARTH! AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS! THE PLANETS OF OUR REALITY WILL SOON BE PAINTED WITH THE BLOOD OF ALL MORTALS! AND NOT EVEN YOU CAN STOP ME! DO YOU HEAR ME!"**

He then calmed down, and spoke under his breath, his last words a tone of haunting, **"For even YOU will be next..."**


	2. Part 1: Enter the Mantra

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
-----------------------------

**Part 1: Enter the Mantra**

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 7:32am EST/4:32pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan)

Shibuya-ku district bustled with activity as it always did, being the central nerve point for all the young people of Tokyo, Japan. Located in the Eastern part of the world, Tokyo was considered to be the largest of all cities in the entire world, with an estimated 33,750,000 people living within it's 23 different wards. Shibuya-ku was just one of many, around 15.11 square kms, but it was one of the most busy places in East Tokyo. In fact, it was home to the Shibuya Crossing, a large crossing that utilized four-way stopping to allow people to cross on all four sides at once without worry of cars running them over, better known as a 'scramble crossing'.

One of these intersections was right in front of the Shibuya Station, one of the central stations of Tokyo's massive Transit system, also believed the biggest in all the world. In fact, it was from this station that history would begin to write itself all over again...

From the front of the transit station, eight varying figures emerged, one by one. The first one was around 6'3", and had a slight crew cut. He also appeared to have a small amount of width to him, although not enough to truly appear wide or fat to many around him. His brown hair wasn't very out of place, although his eyes reflected that he was of western decent.

The second one to arrive was around 5'8", and he was much thinner, almost stick-like compared to the first. His hair was almost completely shaved, and only black stubbles showed through. He also wore a thin pair of glasses on his face with see-through lens. One defining characteristic to bystanders was his very light-blue shirt which had a single "Security" on the front, and a "You will respect the fist" on the back with a fist symbol. Many speculated he was actually from either America or from Europe because of the design.

The third person to come out was 6'2", and with a black hair dyed slightly towards a more blondish-orange color, and slightly spiked upwards. He was wearing a dark-orange shirt which had the "Abercrombie and Fitch" insignia on the front, and written on back was "Am I Not a Sexy Beast?" He also carried himself around with a slight air of importance, which seemed to show he was also likely Western as well.

A fourth person also soon emerged behind the third one. He was roughly 6'1", and he was by far the roundest looking of the bunch. He has slightly messy black hair and obsidian-black eyes. He wore a grey shirt, in which on the front was a picture of a character known in a red-orange gi doing a strange pattern of movements, each time his hair and appearance looking different, until the last where his hair was waist length, and he was missing eye brows. On the back of the shirt were some strange Japanese Kana, and the word "Dragon Ball" with it. The shirt caused a couple of the local people to look at him, but they would then go back to what they were doing.

Then a fifth person arrived, a smaller boy of around 5'8", who looked to be ever-so-slightly hunched over, although only his close friends would've really noticed. His brown hair was also dyed black, more in a slight bowl-cut, and his blue-colored eyes were slanted, and one might actually mistaken him for a Chinese person. However his other features suggested he was American. His shirt was black with the picture of a strange lavender-haired boy in a jacket, and carrying a t-shaped sword on his back. A faint image of a similar boy with different hair was behind the image. The back of his shirt had the same kana and "Dragon Ball" on it, and also more kana with it.

A sixth person, around 5'9" came in behind him. He appeared to have a short-medium length brown hair with a cowlick in the front, and appeared to be just a slight bit round on the sides, and wore a red shirt with a picture of a strange man with hair that stood up on end like a black flame. In the background the same man with golden hair was in the middle of a strange hand motion. On the back of the shirt, it looked almost the same as the fourth and fifth peoples' shirts, but additionally, the name "Vejita" was also on the back in plain English. To some bystanders, the fourth, fifth and sixth people might have looked like they were brothers due to seeming to have a taste for the same stuff, although in truth this was far from reality.

Soon, a seventh person walked up behind them, so far the tallest of the lot at 6'4", his brown hair appearing to frame his unusually tall and slightly wide head. He wore glasses similar to the second person's own glasses, both thin and clear-framed. He was wearing a green shirt which had the words "Cheese Wam Chickens" on the front, and "Durty Durt Dur" on the back, and their Chinese name-counterparts beneath each set of English words. Locals were confused to the meaning of the boy's shirt, but they soon went back to their own duties.

And finally, an eighth and final person emerged from behind them. This person was easily the most recognizable out of the group of eight. A young woman of a substantial height of 6'6", towering even over the prior boy who had been in front of her, and in addition, she appeared to possess a pair of blackish-purple, folded wings which towered 3 to 4 inches over her own head, making her appear even taller than she really was. Her outfit was also a stand out, a blue-dress like outfit, with a black royal belt with a reverse-S emblem on the front.

She also wore black arm-braces with purple-arm length gloves with no finger-covers. The dress also only covered one of her legs fully, the other leg mostly visible, although not to the extent anyone could see too much. A strange strap over that leg made the dress hug around her legs somewhat tightly in order to keep her looking decent enough in that area. She also appeared to have blondish-orange hair which went down her back, but was also somewhat standing up in the front. A few locals could swear she looked like someone out of a video game or so with her appearance.

Now that the eight friends had left the station, the fifth person looked out, and breathed in a large amount of the Japanese air. "This feels a lot like home." he stated, being envious of the Japanese, and their anime shows especially, as well as some of their fighting movies and shows.

"Alex, don't plan on staying here. We're only on vacation." the sixth person said flatly, revealing the identity of the fifth person.

"Don't worry, Alex would eventually be booed out of Japan due to his like for Chinese fighting movies." the third kid in the abercrombie shirt replied.

"Vernon, when I ask you for an opinion, you don't give me one." Alex looked at the third kid with a glare, attempting to intimidate the now revealed third person, but Vernon didn't react at all like he wanted.

"Well guess what Alex, it's a free world." the fourth, rounder kid replied to Alex in Vernon's defense."

"Devin, I also didn't ask you to say anything, you fatty!" Alex grumbled, slowly getting more annoyed with the people around him, also revealing the fourth person's identity.

Devin rolled his eyes, "Eh bite me, you clown."

"Hey you two, lay off Alex. He's just goofing around anyways!" the seventh person replied.

"Yeah maybe Jason, but he's still a otaku at heart, so he might one day come back. He should just be prepared if he does." the sixth person replied back to the seventh, revealing him as well.

"'He should be prepare if he does...'" the fifth boy mock-said, "Clint, stop prattling me about that! I can do this without your technical nagging." Alex replied, revealing the sixth person's identity.

"Whatever Alex... whatever... You never take my advice, so why do so now?" Clint replied, a bit of his own mocking in there, "'I'm Alex... I'm gonna mooch off of Clint's hard-won trip to Japan, because I think I'm such a cool leech... hurhurhur'." Clint ended by mocking Alex's own voice.

The first kid laughed softly, "Yeah, that's Alex alright!" he then said in a slightly louder voice than he should've.

"Dusty, Clint... just shut up before I like, decide to kick your asses or something." Alex replied, still trying to keep his cool.

"Guys, not to interrupt your little argument, but where the hell did Nina go!" the second kid with the glasses asked, referring to the winged girl who had been with them.

Dusty began to look around somewhat frantically, as did Clint and Jason. Alex, Vernon and Devin weren't so obvious in their efforts, but still looked nonetheless. Jason soon spotted Nina on the other side of a street, having been staring back at them, a look of slight annoyance in her eyes. She wasn't a big fan of her friends arguing left and right, and decided to fly over the passing traffic, surprisingly not giving any drivers underneath her a halting surprise.

"She's on the other side of the street there, Dan." Jason replied, as the seven boys walked up to the intersection, and waited a bit before crossing over to meet Nina on the other side.

Nina harrumphed at all seven of them, "Boys will be boys, won't they..."

"Ah come on, Alex was being a 'tard again, Nina!" Devin complained.

Nina grumbled, "Look, we came on vacation. We can argue just fine at home. I for one don't want to waste any time we got here on senseless dribble. You guys coming or not?" she then asked a bit more softly.

"Yeah, you're right. I also don't wanna waste time here." Alex replied, "I mean, this is the birth land of anime, and the home of the mighty Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragonball Z itself."

"And art for other games." Clint added in.

Alex grumbled, but continued, "And art for other games, like Dragon Quest and yes Clint, Chrono Trigger."

"Wait, you know about Dragon Quest huh? Never thought the series appealed to you." Clint replied.

"Well, I know Toriyama made the art, but I wanna meet him, so I'm gonna move out to find him soon. Who wants to come with me?" Alex replied.

Devin walked up, slightly to Alex's dismay, and so did Clint and Vernon, and even Jason. Dusty, Dan and Nina weren't as interested though.

"I guess the five of us are going to Toriyama. What about you three?" Vernon asked the remaining of their friends.

"Well, I know I'm gonna do some clothes shopping to see what they have." Nina replied, pointing to a clothing shop across a couple of streets, and I don't know what Dusty and Dan are doing yet.

_Women..._ Vernon and Devin thought to themselves, not too surprised at Nina's decision. Although Vernon had to admit, Nina usually only wore the same type of outfit, so perhaps a change in clothes might make her less boring to look at. Devin had similar thoughts.

Dusty and Dan were left to think of their own place to go. Dusty truthfully wanted to follow Nina, but he also didn't want to leave Dan on his own to probably get bored to tears. Also, Nina didn't yet know of Dusty's secret, and he wanted to keep it that way. However, Dan soon had figured out where he wanted to go. In the middle of the district appeared a large building, one which had Neo from "The Matrix"'s face on a sign above the entrance, and a two TVs above it, one playing a baseball game, another playing some other Japanese show. He read the name, and from what he had learned on Japanese, it translated to "Hachiko Tower". The tower also had flyers for various animes, some familiar to him and his friends, and others completely unknown or new to them.

"Dusty, let's go to Hachiko Tower over there. I think we can learn more about the new things Japan's been cooking up. Stuff we might get to see eventually over in the US." Dan spoke up to his friend.

Clint, being the planner of the whole vacation nodded, "Yes, that reminds me. We have to meet back here at six in their time, which is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from now. The tower Dan pointed to is having a special movie for guests and foreigners which is supposed to explain the origin of anime, and its' other little known facts."

The others appeared to nod in their own ways, although Jason, Dusty, Nina and Vernon weren't as interested as Dan, Clint, Alex, and Devin were.

"Alright, we'll have to make sure to get back here soon. At least two of us will already be there, if Dusty's going with Dan anyways." Devin replied.

Dusty blinked, not knowing if Devin was aware of his secret when he said that comment or not. With this words, the group split off into three, and began heading to reach their destinations.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 7:43am EST/4:43pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: 'Shikotama no kaimono' store)

Nina had soon found herself at the Shikotama no kaimono store, which literally translated to "Plenty of Shopping" store. Shaking her head at the odd use of language in Japan, she entered quietly and as non-chalantly as one who had two wings on their back could. Having knowledge of Japanese was helpful in this region, as she had began to hear people speaking, some about the clothing they were looking at, some to clerks about orders, one person even blabbing about how her husband was "too small", which she did not really wish to hear.

And one child even said something about her wings looking cool, which actually made her semi-smile a bit. At home, she did not have as much positive criticism on her wings as she would've wanted. It primarily came from the younger people around her friends' age, and not from older people, although she had encountered drunks who would at one time or another hit on her, and then the next minute scold her for having "freakish wings", probably not at first able to see them.

Nina began to check around, looking into the women's clothing section, and checking out various garments, including underwear and bras as the first set. She realized that she needed a slightly different color than black for undergarments at times, not because she necessarily wanted them to be seen by others, but because she felt too restricted by having everything always the same all the time. As she was looking, one almost adult Japanese boy walked by, observing her shortly, and then turning back and saying in his language about having sworn he had seen her before in his life somewhere. Nina had caught that, but didn't think much of it. Clint himself had actually said similar when they first met, but he never could put a hand on what he was trying to remember.

After picking out a few bras and undergarments in general, she started to look over the tank tops in the store. Nina had never really worn much outside of her outfit, and it was always a one-part outfit, so she felt she should get a few shirts, pants, shorts and tank tops, especially for the summer. She remembered the recent summer and how hot it was at times in Canton. She seemed interested specifically in a white tanktop with a couple of kanji on the back. It literally translated as "bird of lighting", and the name interested her. Nina was not actually human, and she wasn't a mutant human, like some people believed.

She was of an odd race of winged beings from another world. Nina didn't remember all of the details of her arrival on Earth, but she remembered a portal was responsible for it. The name on the tanktop seemed to fit with her for some reason, so she grabbed it and went to check for more clothes. She looked at her watch she got from Dusty, saying 4:52pm, telling her she had about 1 hour left to search. Humming to herself, she decided she would make more use of her presence here than she had been thinking.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 7:59am EST/4:59pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Shonen Jump HQ in Shibuya)

Knowing that Akira Toriyama was a major forerunner of Shonen Jump, Vernon, Jason, Alex, Clint and Devin had asked a few locals information on where he might be. Part of the vacation Clint had won had included a possible meeting with various anime and manga artists. And Toriyama was meant to be one of them, and would be located in Shibuya-ku at a Shonen Jump HQ nearby. The locals had told them to look north about a half of mile from the Crossing, and that they'd need a special pass that Clint was carrying to be admitted in. That had been about 12 minutes back, and they had taken a taxi to reach the Shonen Jump headquarters.

Once they entered, they came upon a reception hall, and to their surprise, they saw various other groups of people, almost clustered like the five of them where. However these were not Japanese groups, they were people of other countries, including Britain, Germany, Russia and even a couple of Egyptian natives.

"Woah." Clint remarked at the sight, "I guess the contest wasn't just being held in America."

"What do you mean?" asked Devin, curious.

"Europe at the least has their own variation of Toonami. I guess they had a similar contest to win their own trip here." Clint replied.

"What? You mean all of these people are also waiting on Toriyama?" Alex asked, hoping they wouldn't cause them to be late, having only about 1 hour to talk with Toriyama.

"Alex, Toriyama's not the only person here people want to see. So we'll probably still see him." Clint explained as he walked to the reception table, pulling out the vacation pass he won as proof he was a contest winner.

The reception guy looked over it and spoke in Japanese which both Clint and Alex translated to, ("Toriyama-san is waiting in the back for his visitors."). he then said as an afterthought ("I thought there were gonna be 8 of you?").

Clint spoke back in his own dialect of Japanese, ("They're sightseeing, and they weren't as interested, thus the smaller group.")

("Then I will let Toriyama-san know. Please enter.") the man replied, pressing a button, causing a two-part sliding door to open.

"Clint, I could've found out for you!" Alex complained, not having many chances yet to speak in Japanese around the others.

"Well, maybe you can talk to the people at the anime convention tonight and tomorrow." Clint replied, as the group of five entered into the back to meet Akira Toriyama.

At age 46, time had actually treated Akira Toriyama incredibly well. He stilled looked somewhat young and lively for his age. His glasses were similar in ways to both Jason and Dan's, except they were Japanese made. His beard and mustache were trim and short, and he wore a special plaid artists' shirt which had a picture of a green-skinned being dressed in a white cape and turban, and kanji that would translate to "Piccolo, the Demon King".

Although sometimes he wondered if he should take a large break from writing and drawing, it was actually sections like this that made him a bit more lively each time. He sometimes tired of the pressure put on him by his local fans, and liked hearing the opinions of foreign fans when they did come in. American and British fans were the more lively of his fans, and he admitted that not all Americans or British were as egotistical or loud-mouthed as most Japanese culture made them out.

Soon he saw Clint, Vernon, Jason, Devin and Alex enter, all five of them taking seats around the room, Clint sitting at the one closest to the front of his desk. He thought to himself _So what will this group bring to the table?_

Clint decided to usher Alex to the table, and told him, "Since this is your obsession more than mine, you start off."

"SWWEEETT!" Alex said, and immediately began speaking in Japanese, ("So Mr. Toriyama, how're you today?")

("I am alright, young westerner. Are you Clint, the American winner of the contest?")

Understanding all of this, Clint spoke up, ("No, that'd be me. I'm letting Alex talk to you first since this is one of the main things he wanted to do.")

("Ah I see. Ask way, young westerners.") Akira replied in a chuckle, ("I have a good idea what you're here to talk to me about.") he chuckled more as he referred to the shirts Clint, Alex and Devin where wearing.

Alex actually giggled giddily, having the chance to finally ask the questions he know only Toriyama could answer, ("I guess the first must be, why did you decide to make Goten and Trunks become Super Saiya-jin at such a young age?")

Devin looked at Alex oddly, "I never thought he'd ask that question."

Toriyama pet his stubby beard as he answered, "You could say it was a gene inherited by their fathers." although to the group's surprise, his answer was in pure English.

"Wait! You speak English?" asked Vernon.

"Yes, young westerner, I have learned English and the British's equivalent of it over the years. I love surprising groups of fans with this fact. Anyways, you may continue your questions." Toriyama replied, laughing a bit heartily.

Clint spoke up, "I got one: If Goku and Vegeta were at the same strength in both situations, would Vegetto or Gogeta be stronger?"

Toriyama chuckled, "Gogeta and Vegetto are perfectly equal in strength, and in fighting ability. However Gogeta has a seriousness advantage, while Vegetto has a time-limit advantage. Honestly, it comes down to how serious Vegetto is. Although against Majin Buu I must admit I might have made him a bit too arrogant. Either of them can win, but I think 6 times out of 10, Gogeta would win due to being so serious," Toriyama said, and then sighed deeply, "I don't count Dragon Ball Grand Tour for Gogeta's personality. Toei and Bird Studios really messed his personality up."

Devin quickly asked then, "I thought you gave the ok for Toei to make Grand Tour? I take it that you didn't think so much of what it became after a while, right?"

Toriyama smiled, "At least I feel better that more westerners than my own people realize Grand Tour was far from perfect. There were so many inconsistencies in it. The only things I really contributed, as you may or may not know, are Super Saiya-jin 4 Goku's appearance, and a couple of other designs. Even then, I didn't call it Super Saiya-jin 4. I called it another form, I called it 'Compact Oozaru', and it was actually meant to have been a couple more stages down from any actual Super Saiya-jin 4, more like maybe 5 or 6." he then chuckled, obviously making a joke on the 5 and 6.

"I must ask my own question: I know you don't work on Dragon Ball anymore, but if you ever got back into it, would you ever do another series, or possibly work with someone who cared enough to work more to your preferences than Toei?" Vernon asked.

Toriyama's smile turned into a neutral express as he combed his chin, "If I were to become interested in continuing Dragon Ball, I would probably say first that Grand Tour was a type of, what you would call an "alternate reality", or a different timeline. As for working with another idealist, I might be inclined, as long as he wouldn't easily be swayed by the legions of Goku fans that live here. Those fans have given me so much grief during work time. They were the reason I began to lose interest in Dragon Ball in the first place."

Clint decided to speak up, "I know this is something you discontinued in the series after Frieza, but I must ask, is the rumor that Super Saiya-jin 2 Gohan's powerlevel was 300 million actually true? And if it is, what was Super Perfect Cell's own powerlevel in their final battle?"

Toriyama looked intrigued by his question. "Yes, despite what spreads around the internet, Gohan was 300 million upon his transformation to Super Saiya-jin 2. Super Perfect Cell, as you call him after he regenerated from self-destruction, was around 290 million to 295 million. He was only slightly weaker. Also, Gohan never lost half of his power when his arm was broken, to clear that up. He only thought his power was cut down due to the injury."

"Okay, then secondly, how strong were each version of Majin Buu at their first appearances?" Devin asked.

"If I think about it, Fat Majin Buu in his first appearance out of Bibidi's shell, had to be between around 400 million. Lean Majin Buu had to be around 500 million. After absorbing Piccolo and Gotenksu, he reached 650 million, and then he reached 750 to 800 million after absorbing Ultimate Gohan. Chibi Majin Buu was around 450 million, and Mr. Buu was around 350 million." Toriyama replied.

"I got to ask this then," Jason was curious for this question, "Saying Grand Tour never happens, what would you have done with Uubu and Pan's roles, considering they were the newest characters to appear at the end of Dragon Ball?"

Toriyama smiled, liking this question, "If I truly had it my way, Uubu would eventually become the first of Goku's potential successors, and Pan would be the second. Despite what Grand Tour suggests, due to her father's power, she has great potential, more than Grand Tour implied." he shook his head sadly, "Uubu and Pan's lack of power were another part of the inconsistencies that plagued Grand Tour to Hell and back, pardon my words."

Devin then spoke up, "Then I have to ask this, would Pan have eventually reached a Super Saiya-jin level, or does Gohan's ultimate powerup have something to do with restriction?"

Toriyama looked to be in deep thought for a second, and then answered, "I honestly do not know if Gohan's genes restrict her or not. I do know that she could likely become a Super Saiya-jin at a younger age than even Goten or Trunks, at least going by the pattern I set."

"Well, these have been interesting questions and answers..." Clint trailed on to himself, checking his watch, which now said 5:19pm. He knew it would be only forty more minutes, but to them, it felt only one a couple of minutes had passed. He knew Alex would especially be sad to leave, but Clint was responsible for making sure he didn't get lost, so he had not much of a choice. He personally still wanted to see this movie pretty bad.

"So, I never got all of your names. I know you are Alex, and you are Clint, but who are the other three?" Toriyama asked, wanting to get more acquainted with them.

"Well, this is Jason... Vernon... and this is Devin." Clint introduced them one by one, and they replied in their own choice words, "We're five of the eight people who won the American Toonami contest. We have 3 other friends with us, but they're at the Shibuya Crossing, checking out sites, while we came here to see you."

"You appear to be nervous of the time, Clint." Toriyama pointed out.

"Yeah, we only have until 6pm. We're all going to the Hachiko Towers to see a presentation of the birth of the anime culture and other little known facts. We don't have a lot of time here, so we have to be quick with our questions." Vernon replied in Clint's place.

"Well then, please by all means talk to me, ask me questions. Heck, I'll even see if I can't draw you all some souvenirs to take along with you." The five friends perked up immediately at this, and decide to put the next few minutes to good use...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 8:23am EST/5:23pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Hachiko Towers)

Dan and Dusty were looking around with mild perplexment. The Hachiko towers were also the home to several special anime conventions, including one that happened to be in progress when they had all arrived in Japan. Due to this, Dusty and Dan were lucky enough to learn of several other animes they were either vaguely aware of, or had no knowledge of at all. Dusty personally recalled titles such as Gundam Seed, Naruto, FLCL, or "Furi Kuri" as some called it, also Inuyasha, Trigun, One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, Soul Reaver and several other anime had been noticed by both boys. Dan was particularly into Gundam Wing, and Dusty was more into Cowboy Bebop.

Dan continued to look over some Gundam Wing merchandise, including some statuettes of Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, and Quatre Winner, his three favorite characters. He was also looking at the Shenlong and Deathscythe Gundam statuettes. Dusty however wasn't able to find much Bebop merchandise, and ended up beginning to get bored.

"Dan, how much time is left before everyone arrives?" Dusty asked him.

"5:26, Dusty. Come on, there has to be something here you like." Dan replied.

"There is, but I can't find much for Cowboy Bebop here. Not like you are for Gundam Wing over there." Dusty replied, "I wonder if Japan has their own version of wrestling. Boy that would be entertaining."

"Dusty, must you always think of wrestling?" Dan asked, a bit annoyed.

"Well what else should I think about? Nina? You told me that keeping my mind off her and on other things would help out, so I'm doing as you said." Dusty replied, revealing that Dan had already known of his secret crush towards Nina.

"Well, you got to divide your interests. Having only major hobby can be end up being worse than better." Dan replied.

"Well help find an anime or two I could go with!" Dusty replied.

"You like more normal-looking fighting anime, right? Try Trigun, Naruto, and Fist of the North Star. Perhaps something out of those three will work."

Dusty grumbled and began to trot off to see the three anime in question, however as he passed, he noticed something unique that caught his eye.

"Now THAT looks interesting..." he said, referring to a TV playing a scene of a battle on a large bird-shaped glider.

On this glider, a crazy man was looking on at two different looking women, one of which was wearing a tight black jumpsuit and violet hair, and another with long brown hair, glasses, and a two piece coat. The scenes in the battle were whether interesting. The first girl appeared to have the power to become intangible at will, passing through a set of girders inside a large building. The other girl seemed to be able to manipulate cards and paper into solid shapes, using them to inflict heavy damage on the glider.

"That's more creatively down my alley." Dusty said, as he went off to see if he could find out about this anime he saw...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 8:51am EST/5:51pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Hachiko Towers)

Another 25 minutes later, Dusty and Dan had left the convention area and met up with Nina, now a few bags greater after her trip to the nearby stores. The three of them however had not yet seen hide or hair of Vernon, Clint, Alex, Jason and Devin yet.

"Could they have gotten lost in Shibuya?" Dan asked out loud.

"More than likely, they don't wanna come back, considering they were going to meet one of their favorite creators himself." Dusty reasoned back.

"Well we have 8 minutes roughly. Maybe we should look around before the others get back." Nina suggested, getting both Dan and Dusty's interest.

"Well, where should we go then? We were just at the anime convention." Dan stated.

Nina shrugged, yawning as she leaned on a seat she was sitting in, not easily of course, with her wingspan creating a natural blockade. Dusty however had moved off by himself, with little notice from his two friends, and began to walk up to a small cart-store a ways near one of the escalators.

The mid-height Japanese woman at the counter looked towards him, and smiled unnervingly at him, ("What can I get you?")

Dusty had understanding of Japanese as well, although he was not as much a speaker of it as a listener, so he replied somewhat roughly ("Well, I was looking around mainly, but if you can help me, maybe I'll understan...") he trailed off as he began to explain his dilemma.

Back at the front of the tower, the doors had opened, and in walked Jason, Clint, Alex, Devin and Vernon, most if not all of the five wearing looks of disappointment on their faces, although Vernon's seemed slightly less noticeable than the other four. Dan and Nina had seen this and wondered if the five had even been able to find Toriyama at all.

"Clint, how'd it go?" asked Dan.

"Well, we found Akira Toriyama, and we met him, and I must say we're bummed out now. Not even I truthfully want to hang around here for the movie now, and the others agree, although Vernon is taking it in good stride." Clint replied.

"I take it no one wanted to come back for a while," Nina replied to this, "Just remember Clint, you told us yourself this is a necessary part of the trip, and even YOU can't back out of that."

"Yeah, that's why Vernon and I had to begrudgingly drag Alex, Jason and Devin out of Shonen Jump HQ. Although we DID get Toriyama's calling card, and his personal e-mail address, but it's still not the same as talking to the guy in person." Clint replied.

Dusty had then decided to enter the five returning friends' sights with his own reply, "So I take it the interview went well."

"Extremely well, in fact, we had NO arguments whatso-freakin-ever at Shonen Jump HQ, just a flood of questions and art requests, which Toriyama did one or two of. We'll show you ours later, and maybe we can even go back and see him later." Devin replied.

Nina raised an eyebrow, staring between Alex, and then Vernon and Devin, "You're serious...? I can officially say I'm shocked out of my mind." she then stated part-sarcastically.

"Hey, we took your advice for once, did we not?" Alex complained back.

"Yeah, you make a point for once. I guess we should all get ready for this movie." Nina replied, changing the subject.

"Man, this movie's gonna be a snoosefest..." Alex grumbled.

"Origin of anime or not... we should've done this BEFORE we split up." Vernon had agreed.

"Movie's schedule, guys," Clint replied, "Nothing I could do to change it."

The 8 friends decided they'd leave it at that, and walked over to the ticket counter. Clint reached into his pocket and pulled out a string of 8 tickets, given to him by the organizers of the contest he had won in order to use to get into the movie.

The cashier looked at the tickets and looked over, saying ("Clear. Enter please.") in his native language, and the eight walked into the theatre.

Inside there were a few straggling viewers who had also decided to come to see the movie, but only 2 or 3. In fact, the offer on the tickets seemed nulled with so few people here. The tickets gave the eight friends the front rows of the theatre from which to watch the movie, but the gesture was useless with so few people even watching anyways. Three sets of rows lined the front, and the friends split two rows, Devin and Vernon sitting at the left edge of one row, Clint and Dan sitting at another edge of the same row, Dusty and Nina unwittingly sitting together at the left end of the other row, and Alex and Jason setting at the right end of that row.

Within seconds, the movie screen began to turn on, and a movie projector at the front of the room began to roll, telling the group that this was either an old movie, or that it was meant to be in the old style. As the movie began, a small slideshow of scenes from several old anime most of the friends had never seen, or barely known of began to cycle through. The styles of the scenes began to slowly change as more scenes played, looking more and more towards modern as they played. Some of the friends even began to recognize some of the scenes, including some from modern anime such as Cowboy Bebop, Gundam, Dragonball, and even one of the newer series that Dusty recognized as Soul Taker.

After the flash of scenes, the movie began to explain, in Japanese of course, that the history of anime dated back to the early 20th century, the year 1918, when an anime called Momotaro(translated to "Peach Boy") had been made, but that it was a rarity back in the time. Another mention involving Momotaro was of a feature-length movie which was the first of the anime variety. The movie then moved on to the 1956, speaking of a familiar name to most of the friends, Toei Animation, having been created and creating the first full-color anime-based movie known as "The Tale of the White Serpent", released in 1958. Over the next 10 years, Toei released similar types of films. Then the movie came to tell of a man named Osamu Tezuka, who founded the company Mushi Productions in order to rival Toei.

Tezuka was also the creator of one of the most remembered older anime, Astro Boy, which was the first true series of anime, as opposed to a one shot series. In this same era, Tatsuo Yoshida created a racing series known as Mach Go Go Go, which would come to be known popularly in America as Speed Racer, much to the surprise of some of the 8 friends. Tezuka then began to create the first adult-oriented anime, known as 1001 Nights, Cleopatra, and Belladonna of Sadness, the latter being what helped lead to another gem of the elder anime era, Lupin the Third.

However it was at this point that Alex and Jason were beginning to lose their already fading interest in the movie. Akira Toriyama and their interview with him weighed on their minds heavily, and they began to wonder if the movie would even give mention to him.

"This IS boring Alex..." Jason admitted, not wanting earlier to spoil the mood outside the theatre.

"The movie's only caught my interest at a couple points Jason. I don't care much about pioneer anime shows. I never was a big fan of things like Astro Boy. Not actiony enough. That Belladonna of Sadness sounded interesting though." Alex replied.

"Yeah, you probably think it's something like hentai1, you goof." Jason replied.

"And you wouldn't want to see that yourself?" Alex whispered back, trying to shush Jason to a point no one else would hear them.

"That's fine and all, but you insulted ASTRO BOY, the pioneer of all anime series' in the world! That show is God, Alex!" Jason grumbled in replied.

"How can you like such a piece of junk like that? Look at how fruity looking the main character was!" Alex barked back, now beginning to get annoyed at his best friend.

"The Japanese probably don't see it the same as you, you retard." Jason mumbled back.

"Well still, the characters are too cliché!" Alex grumbled.

"Alex, how much of Astro Boy have you actually seen, or are you just talking out of your ass?" Jason replied.

"I am not talking out of my ass!" Alex replied, "Besides, you do that more than enough to fill my share!"

Jason grumbled and brought his hand down and smacked Alex on the top of the head, causing him to grab his head. "Jason you 'tard! What was that for!" Alex said, throwing a small punch to Jason's rib.

Jason and Alex suddenly began to grapple, and struggle to hit one another. Now Dusty and Nina had caught look at it.

"Damn it all to Hell!" Nina growled at them under her breath.

Dusty growled over, "Hey knock it off you two!" However both friends ignored Dusty's calls, and began to rock back and forth.

Suddenly Alex's back slammed into the front wall of his seats, and he began to lose his balance.

"Wah... woah... WOOOOAAAHH!" Alex screamed as he literally flipped back over and landed on the floor on the other side.

However as he fell, his foot tripped into the stand in which the camera was lying on, causing it to topple over, and smash into pieces violently ending the movie, and causing the room to go almost completely dark. Jason and Alex froze as Clint, Vernon, Dusty, Nina, Devin and Dan immediately turned a group of angry faces at the pair of idiots they had for friends, especially at Alex, assuming once again he had been the instigator of the entire ordeal.

"ALEX! JASON!" Dusty growled in a tone that even the others had to somewhat cover their ears, due to how abnormally loud Dusty could scream when he had to.

"What! Jason started it by hitting me on the head!" Alex growled back. "No, you called Astro Boy fruity!" Jason argued back.

Clint now had a slightly amused expression on his face _I didn't even think either one knew much on Astro Boy_, but then he turned serious again, realizing just what happened. "Alex, Jason... you both know you'll be paying for the projector you just shattered." he stated flatly.

"What! Why!" Alex growled back at Clint.

"Alex, you fell over and tripped it! Jason probably has some twisted hand in it too!" Devin growled back.

"Devin shut up! I wasn't trying to shove him over!" Jason growled back, "He insulted Astro Boy!"

"He hit me on the head!" Alex argued back again.

"Calm down!" Dan grumbled, "You're incessant babble gives me a headache!"

However in the midst of all the babbling, no one noticed the small sparks beginning to emit from the smashed projector. The cord lead to a section behind the TV screen, and the sparks began to slowly snake down the cord, to the unnoticing group of 8 friends. As the sparks began to reach the TV screen, the 8 of them were still arguing about the smashed projector.

"Fine! I guess I can pay the meager amount for this thing. It's probably not that expensive anyways." Alex grumbled to his friends.

"You can't pay all of it. Jason's got to pay some of it for his hand in the matter." Vernon replied.

"I don't have any money on me right now!" Jason protested.

"Well, you'll have to pay one of US back when we get home then, won't you." Clint replied sternly.

Jason sighed in defeat, "Alright, I guess I didn't help by hitting him, but he shouldn't have insulted Astro Boy! That show's God you know."

"Shut up about that crappy piece of junk, Jason!" Alex grumbled.

Jason stared at him with a dark stare, "Don't make me hit you again." he threatened.

"Whatever! You caught me off guard. If I was aware, I'd have blocked you like Bruce Lee and kicked your ass the same!" Alex boasted, having a like for the deceased Chinese/American martial artist, causing many of his friends, especially Vernon and Devin to roll their eyes.

However, their argument would suddenly be cut short, when the ground began to tremble a slight amount. The entire theatre and its few occupants felt the small tremors.

"Hey, an aftershock?" Devin was the first to reply to the shaking.

"No you 'tard, the only way an aftershock can occur is after a full earthquake!" Alex grumbled at him.

"Well there's been no earthquakes here in weeks, assclown!" Devin grumbled back at his arrogant friend. However the trembling actually began to pick up in strength, now shaking with the equivalent of a 3.5 on the Richter scale.

"Woah! It must be a full earthquake!" Dusty shouted, as the intensity began to reach closer to a 4.0.

Nina quickly flapped her wings into action and floated a few feet off the ground, expecting the intensity to increase, to which she had been right.

The shake was now equal to 4.5 on the scale, and Vernon began to panic, "Why does this have to happen NOW of all times!"

Alex, still picking himself up off the floor, also not perfectly accustomed to pulling himself up, was struggling to even get his head off the ground during the intensifying Earthquake, which was now at around a 5.5 on the scale. The shaking was getting so great that most of the 8 friends, minus Nina and Alex, were struggling to keep standing upright, as small objects, speakers, shingles and other things began to fall around them from above.

"The place looks like it's gonna collapse on us!" Nina exclaimed. However what they had not noticed was that some of the falling objects appeared to become slightly attracted to the still-standing TV monitor in the front of the theatre, falling inches closer towards the monitor, like it was a magnet. Clint was trying to remain as calm as possible, as the earthquake appeared to hit a peak of intensity at a point which felt like a 6.2, but no one in the group of 8 friends except possibly Nina had ever experienced an earthquake, nonetheless one of such a magnitude. Clint also wondered if the fact the ground was shaking in random directions was supposed to be a commonplace trait in earthquake development. However Jason, who actually was an earthquake buff, realized the shaking wasn't the way it should be.

"Something's wrong here! This quake's not shaking like a normal quake!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the group saw a tiny dot of white in the middle of the screen, as the supports for it were coming apart slowly, and one snapped, causing the screen to tilt down at an angle and hit the floor. The other support gave way, and the smash of the TV into the ground caused an extra boost the quaking. However that ominous point of white remained in the middle of the slightly cracked screen.

Suddenly, Clint noticed peculiarly as the white dot began to expand, and even began to give off a light. Falling objects were being pulled towards the screen at a more noticeable rate, almost as if the screen were trying to suck them inside. Suddenly, the dot of light expanded and quickly took over the whole screen. The entire theatre was suddenly covered in an unearthly bright light, instantly blinding all of the 8 friends, and the other bystanders were stumbling as they ran out to safety from the debris. Even Alex, who's face was turned AWAY from the screen due to his position on the ground, was blinded to the point of not being able to do anything.

"AAAUGGGH!" Clint screamed out, not liking hurt, blinded eyes, "What the hell is happening!"

Nina had still been flying, even with her blindness, but she was the first to notice a worse situation. She could feel a vacuum from behind her, slowly sucking her towards something, like a magnet. She suddenly realized that the screen was going out of control, turning into a dimensional rift, a concept she was only mildly familiar with, and none of the others good at.

"IT'S A DIMENSIONAL RIFT! IT'S SUCKING ME IN!" she screamed out, as she saw pure white even with her eyes closed their tightest.

Suddenly her screams faded as her presence was completely sucked in to the TV screen. However Nina wasn't the only one about to get drawn into the rift. Alex, being right in front of the screen, was easily being pulled towards the screen, just as helpless to escape as Nina had been.

"OH SHIT!" he screamed as he was overwhelmed and passed out, flying into the rift in the screen.

Jason had been trying to escape the force of the pull, but stumbled and smacked his head on the wall of the front seats, passing out on the ground. However, he seemed to be safe from the pull now, as the chairs were miraculously holding up against the force of the pull, even as it began to intensify, suddenly yanking Dan and Clint from behind their seats, screaming bloody murder as they vanished through. Vernon tried to bolt behind a set of seats to avoid the pull, but he smacked into a seat and fell down on his back in the middle of the isle, being picked up and sucked into the screen, with screams of protest. Devin and Dusty were also beginning to feel the effects as they were struggling to keep in place, but even their large and heavier frames were smashed through the chairs, breaking them apart, sending chair shrapnel into the rift in the screen, then Dusty and Devin thereafter.

Suddenly, the entire ceiling of the cinema room began to break down, pieces big and small being sucked in to the rift. The bright light was now being declawed by the night skies above, which in themselves appeared to be swaying under the thrall of some supernatural force. Jason groaned, still unconscious, not aware that he had been the only person in the cinema that was still not either sucked in the rift, or fleeing from the Hachiko Towers. Little did Jason know that what had sucked his friends in, was not a dimension rift in the classic sense...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , Unknown Small Rural Town)

Still screaming bloody murder, Clint was soon able to see, and he found himself surrounded by a tie-dye of colors, almost as if he was being held inside a sphere of rainbows. _What the hell is this!_ he thought to himself, really unable to say it screaming as he was. For about 40 seconds he felt as if he were being thrown around like a rocket into the atmosphere, which didn't do much to help his situation. However he found it odd when he suddenly came plowing to a stop, smashing into something solid, but he still saw the odd tie-dye around him.

Now gasping for air to regain what he lost screaming, he picked himself up, sore all over, but nothing broken or seriously injured. _Man is that what astronauts feel they're in the middle of lift-off!_

However he didn't have much time to think about it, as the coloration around him began to pulse into erratic flashes, as he saw electrical pulses around his body, as the colors began to fade away, as what looked like a rip in the fabric of time and space opened up. The scene began to resemble grass and trees in front of him, as the colors soon completely vanished from all around him.

Clint looked around in astonishment, now finding his surroundings looked more like a place he could exist at. He was standing on a concrete path, in the middle of what looked like a small park. Tables littered both sides of the path, and many of the vendors were also staring at him with looks of horrified shock. Apparently these people had seen him materialize in front of them. He ignored them for the moment, and looked around more, noticing it looked like he landed in the middle of some kind of small, rural town, like the kind that appeared outside of a major city.

At one end of the path was a small house, looking like it might belong to the park-owner. On the other side it merged with a sidewalk along a quiet looking road. Clint knew already that whatever had happened had separated him from the others. He realized he was gonna have to find out where in the world he really was. Although for some reason, he couldn't shake off the odd feeling this new location wasn't so new to him.

He looked around for someone who might know something, and walked up to a man in a Fonz-style hairdo and red-slacks, who still looked to be in some shock. "Hey, you guys wou..."

"Hey! Get away from him, you darn invader!" one elderly woman from the other side of the path sharply cut him off, causing Clint to almost fall over in shock,

"Invader, what the hell are...?"

Again he was cut off, "HELP! Those aliens and their possessed humans have returned!" another man nearby called out.

"I'm not an alien!" Clint protested.

"Then why are you here, alien slave!" the Fonz-style-haired man growled at him, or least tried to, it was obvious he wasn't doing a great job.

"I have no idea why I got dumped out here! I was with my friends watching a movie when..." Clint retorted.

But again he was cut off by a older man with brown hair and a white shirt at a ruler booth, "Aha! You are an invader! You and your darn friends are planning an invasion! Call for help!" The Fonz-haired man quickly scurried away from Clint and outside of the park.

Clint was beginning to get really annoyed. "WILL YOU ALL JUST LET ME SPEAK!" he roared, "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE IN THE BLUE HELL I'M AT!"

"You lie!" another woman at a banana-vending table growled back, "No one else, but them knows how to just materialize like that!" Clint grumbled, and tried to suppress his urge to strangle someone in annoyance.

"Exactly who is 'them' anyways! Where am I? Why me!" he growled, and then have a strange thought, and then narrowed his eyes, "Maybe... maybe... just maybe YOU'RE the ones at fault for all of this! Yeah, it makes sense now... you stole me and my friends, and brought me to this strange hellhole, and sent my friends to other places, where your friends are probably trying to pull some crap with them! What do you people want from us!" Clint growled, getting looks of shock and astonishment at his accusation.

One kid meagerly spoke out, "Why would you think we did this? You're the one who popped up here!"

Clint was about to reply, and try to explain the whole story to these psychotically freaked out people, when he suddenly felt a sense of dread, and had the feeling he needed to turn around. As he did, he realized his day was getting from bad to worse. The last thing Clint saw before he lost consciousness was a flying mass of black flying right into his face. The hit was perfect and left a red mark over him as he landed on his back. Down the path on the end at the park entrance, Clint's assailant stood, examining his downed form.

Standing around six feet, one inch, she was a young woman dressed in a pink, knee-length dress, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a little longer than Nina's. There was also a red bow tied in her hair, and her eyes were blue the same as Nina's.

She looked over the Fonz-style-haired man, and said, "You sure this is him?"

"Yeah, he just... popped outta nowhere!" he replied.

The woman walked over to Clint's body, and kneeled down to retrieve what she had thrown at Clint, a black, steel frying pan, almost skillet-sized. She then looked over him, and put her hand on his forehead, and then shortly closed her eyes for roughly 5 seconds.

She opened her eyes, and looked up at the people around her with a look of embarrassment at them, "I think we screwed up. According to what I'm getting here, he really WAS lost and sent here by some kinda freak accident."

The other people in the parked winced visibly, realizing Clint would more than like get a bad impression of them from this. However their winces were soon replaced by a look of shock. Suddenly, strange electrical pulses began to surge around Clint and the woman near him, much to her shock as well. "What the..."

Soon the erraticity of the pulse began to form into a sphere, which soon converged into a prismatic rainbow around a short area, engulfing Clint and the woman. She got up and attempted to move out of the way, but was repelled back, trapped inside.

"Crap!" she screamed out, as the energy surged around them, and then appeared to close around them.

When it cleared, both she and Clint had completely vanished. The other bystanders looked on in shock.

"She said he wasn't an invader!" the elderly woman shouted.

"It has to be whatever put him here that caused it," the Fonz-hair-styled man commented, "Paula's never got any of these wrong yet. I just hope wherever she ends up, she'll be alright."

"Yeah, but I also have to feel sorry for that other boy. Separated from his friends. He doesn't look that strong to me." said the younger woman...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , Unknown Desert-Cliff Region)

As with Clint, Alex was also experiencing a similar situation after being dragged into the portal. His sight had returned to him only moments ago, as he too saw he was trapped in a strange void with pulsing prismacolors around him. He had collided with the ground just as hard as Clint, but due to not having as much mobility, he was a little more shaken and rattled, and found it harder to get up than Clint had. Soon thought, as with Clint, the colors began to fade as electrical pulses surrounded him. Soon, a rip appeared to open up, and Alex saw a dirty ground beneath him as the vortex of colors faded away.

Alex looked around, a little day blind from his experience, and from what he saw, he felt like he was literally in the middle of nowhere. The terrain looked like a desert, with patches of grass in random spots, and only one side did he see any semblance of a cliff or mountain. He also noticed there were what appeared to be small craters dug into the ground, like small meteors had smashed up the area in the recent few weeks. Alex managed to pull himself up and looked around more, trying to ascern where in the blue devil he was. He saw no sign of Clint or the other around him, and began to wonder if they were even anywhere nearby.

"HELLO?" Alex called out, checking to see if anyone was nearby, but he got no answer, so he shrugged to himself, and decided at best he should head toward the small mountain range ahead of him.

Maybe some kinda nomads made their home here. However, like Clint during his own trip, Alex couldn't help but feel a faint sense of deja vu. _Why do I feel like I should know where I am already! And why am I alone! I know we all got sucked in!_

However, Alex was able to notice something Clint had not, since Clint could not really see the sky at the place he came out at. Alex noticed the sky appeared to be bright, like the early day, but he could swear he could see fluctuations in the sky, like a supernatural event was in progress at that very moment. Alex began to question if what was happening was even real.

"Could this just be some fucked up dream!" he asked himself, not expecting anyone to answer. He decided to just press on when he realized he was correct about that. He walked up closer for what felt like hours, as he began to get more feelings of deja vu looking at the spires of rock around him.

Some looked naturally formed, like they should, while he saw one appeared to have a large, uneven hole through it, and a couple other that look like their tops had recently shattered. He assumed this of course because large chunks of rock lay around the said spires. He began to realize something when he looked back at the hole, but decided he'd walk on further to see if he was really right. More than likely, even if he was right, it probably was just a dream.

Soon, Alex suddenly got shaken out of his mid-drifting mood by another earthquake, although this one felt short but violent, he could even swear he faintly heard an explosion in the distance. Alex looked around, alert as he could be in his semi-disoriented state, for any danger nearby. More than likely he had been hearing things, although that explosion felt real.

**BOOM!** THAT earthquake felt a lot stronger, and he definitely heard an explosion. Suddenly he heard a closer explosion, and turned his head to see a small figure moving a way from a large spire, and then a blue beam of energy cutting past where it had been, and burning right through the spire, and continuing into the distance. Alex looked at the beam in a shocked expression, watching it fly over the horizon, then suddenly he saw a large mushroom cloud of dust and an explosion, with an earthquake once again.

_That... it IS! I think I know where I'm at now! This IS a dream!_ He tried to look around for the small thing that had been moving around, but couldn't see anything anymore. He decided he'd only get his answers if he moved onwards. However suddenly a portion of the mountainside ahead erupted into pieces as another small thing was seen zipping out. Pieces of rock flew all over the place, and Alex threw himself up again the side of a spire to avoid getting pelted or crushed.

He realized he didn't try to do something but walk, he'd be killed. He realized, dream or not, he didn't want to risk that dying in a dream could kill you in real life and screamed out, "HEY, IS ANYONE HERE!" Alex then stopped and listened. At first he heard nothing at all. He frowned and realized he must've been too late to reach whoever was around.

However he began to hear a small sound much like a roaring-jet nearing him. Soon he began to notice there were actually TWO sounds like this, and not one. He looked up, expecting whatever was coming was flying his way.

He decided to call out again, "HEY, I'M OVER HERE!" Now he began to really hear something closing in on him.

However he had not seen that two figures had just appeared behind him.

"What do you want, boy!" Alex jumped almost 8 feet off the ground in shock, a feat that would've shocked Vernon, and had Devin and Clint rolling on the floor laughing their asses off if they had been present. Alex soon landed on his feet with a grunt.

"Ow, hey! Why did you have to startle me like... like..." Alex had stopped trying to talk when he turned and realized who he was talking to, "OMIGOD OMIGOD... It.. it... it... it's... you!" he stuttered as he surveyed the two people he stared at in shock.

Both were men who appeared to be in their young 20s, one was roughly his full height standing up, almost Clint's height. He wore an orange gi that covered almost head to toe, with a blue undershirt. His hair was the oddest thing most people would've ever seen, spiking out all over the place, but more on his left than right, and he looked to have an assessing, but calm look on his face. The other man, the one who Alex figured had shouted at him, was smaller, small enough to look funny to most common people around a little over 5 feet tall.

He wore a blue gi-like jumpsuit that also was from shoulder to foot, white gloves on his arms, white boots on his feet, and his troll-like black-flame hair was hard for Alex to miss, having it in pictorial memory, and the scowl adorning the man's face was a severe contrast to his friend's look, and his eyes bore a fierce almost "death"-like glare.

However the smaller man's glare softened only the slightest as Alex's outburst, "What? You know who I... we are? Who are you!" Now he was asking Alex questions.

Alex was contemplating just how likely it was he was in a dream. He decided to pinch himself on the arm to see if he was awake or not. But the pain in his arm signified that he seemed to really be awake. He realized what he could do in this situation, and then smirked, in a way that made the taller man look at his with a quizzical expression, and he said, "Tsk tsk tsk... typical typical Vegeta, growling at anyone who dares cross his path and interrupt his aspirations in defeating that '3rd class baka Kakarott'! I guess what I heard about you both is true."

The shorter man, Vegeta, stared at Alex in an expression both showed confusion and annoyance.

The taller man looked at him with a slightly shocked and admittingly stupid gape at him, "Hey he knows us Vegeta!"

"I'm aware of that, Kakarott." Vegeta replied, and Alex smirked even more intensely, and Vegeta squirmed with more annoyance, "Alright, start talking! How the hell do you know of us? Who are you!"

"Calm down, Vegeta, don't pop a vain over it." Alex coolly replied, "I'm Alex. Alex Binder if you need to know full names. And I all know is that I'm somehow here, looking upon a strange landscape, wondering where the hell I am, and then I see you, Prince Vegeta of the Saiya-jin, and Kakarott, 3rd class fighter, also known as... Son Goku." The taller man, Goku, gave a genuinely shocked expression at Alex, as he continued talking, "At first I thought I was dreaming, but somehow by some freak twist of fate, I think this is really the real deal. In fact... I recognize this place perfectly now. This is where the two of you first fought each other some 15 or more years ago, when you both were still enemies."

Now Vegeta looked genuinely shocked, "Just how do you know that! There was nobody as weak as you around to witness our battle! Only Kakarott's friends where witness to that."

Alex looked at him, and sighed, "If you're willing to let me, I'll explain what I know here." Alex said, "I'm not your enemy. You could say I'm one of your fans Vegeta, and Goku, you're not bad either."

Vegeta actually smirked at Alex, "Is that so? Then please by all means... EXPLAIN."

However, Vegeta would not be getting an explanation anytime soon, as at that moment, they began to see a surge of electrical energy form around all three of them.

"What the hell?" Alex asked in frustration, "Not that odd portal thingy again!"

"Portal thingy!" Vegeta growled.

"Vegeta, something's happening! The Earth feels like it's changing!" Goku called out, however no one else heard him, as the electrical surges began to get so loud, they were deafening to a normal human, so Alex could hear nothing.

Vegeta charged a blast of ki energy through his arm and shot into the field, but the blast was absorbed.

"What the hell's happening!" he growled, as a rainbow colored sphere formed around all three people and began to shrink down. When it cleared, like with Clint and the woman who had knocked him out, there was no sign of Alex, Goku or Vegeta anymore. The desert was a silent witness, but the sky seemed to pulsate more violent as this had been happening...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , Unknown Bridge)

As with Alex and Clint, Dan was also experiencing the same thing in the middle of the rainbow colored void he had been sucked into it. Like before, he was also by himself. He was wondering what could cause this, and why he had been separated. He knew Clint had been pulled into that odd rift along with him, and it unnerved him he was alone. He wondered if Clint had survived. Trying to get up from hitting the solid ground, he was dazed and a bit dizzy as the ground began to change beneath him, and the colors around him began to fade into a new scene, one that looked more to Dan's liking. He appeared to be on a bridge over a large body of water. A bridge somewhat similar in appearance to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dan finally lifted onto his feet, and started to look around, and survey the area. He noticed he must've landed in a large city of some sorts, as he made out several buildings of various sizes on both sides of the bridge. However he couldn't help but feeling something was out of place. Some structures looked out of place compared to what he was used to seeing.

"Some of these buildings, look like something out of a Blade Runner rip-off." He had no idea where he really was, and he realized that perhaps someone else could be of some help to him. He turned around, and decided he'd proceed towards the less populated looking side of the city.

As he walked down the long bridge, Dan began to reflect on possibilities to what might have happened to him, as he like Alex, had began to notice the odd fluctuations in the skies above. He began to wonder if some kind of major change was occurring all over Earth. Whatever it was, he hoped his friends were still alive, and he hoped those who did survive would notice the skies changing. He had been carrying a cell phone, but he didn't really have any luck contacting any of his friends, so he was seriously doubting any of them where either or alive, or dare he think of it... on the same world. Dan had began to wonder if they had been sucked into different parts of the universe. He even had doubts he was actually on Earth. However the sight of a pair of people near the end of the bridge snapped him out of his doom-and-gloom mood.

Dan walked over to the pair of people. One was a young man standing almost 6 feet, roughly Dan's own height. He had light brown hair, sorta messy in appearance, with brown eyes, and wore a green top, and a pair of brown shorts. He also appeared to have what appeared to be a bandage set around one of his legs. The other person was a woman roughly the same height, with long hair, blonde, and in a light violet business-like outfit. Her eyes were purple, and she appeared to be just sitting over the edge of the bridge while the man was leaning over the side, staring into the waters below.

Dan walked up and spoke out, "Hello can anyone here tell me where I am?"

The woman looked over at him first, with a assuring look, and Dan could sense a slight deal of deja vu. The man also moved his eyes over on Dan, but really didn't turn his head.

He spoke up however, "Where'd you come from?" he had asked, in a voice Dan could swear he had heard before somewhere.

"Shibuya-ku, Japan. I think. I was separated from my friends. Some kinda freak rift opened up and sucked us all in. I regained my bearings and arrived on this bridge. I have no idea where I am, or my friends."

The young man actually turned to him completely, a little interested in his story. Dan's eyes widened, now he recognized that woman as well, he recognized both of them.

_Am I in some freak parallel reality!_ "I know you! You're... you're Odin Lowe Jr.2, alias Heero Yuy! And... she's Relena Peacecraft!" he spoke out loud, not exactly aware of his outburst.

He was brought back to reality as he felt something poke him in the shoulder.

He then saw the man pointing a gun into his shoulder, and the woman staring in shock at his action.

"Heero, what're you doing!" she asked.

"He knows both of us by name!" Heero growled venomously, looking at Dan, "He's a survivor from Oz."

Dan had a freaked out expression both at the gun, and the accusation, "Wa.. wait! I'm not from Oz! I'm from Earth! I've never even been in space!"

Heero growled, "You have to be working for Oz. Not many others on Earth knew I had ever been in space, and no one else knows me by my original name."

Dan gulped, wondering if Heero, one of his favorite anime characters, in some screwed up alternate dimension, would actually kill him.

Relena attempted to quell the coming conflict, "Heero, why would Oz still be after us now? And why would they send a boy of his age after us even if they were?"

Heero softened up, if only slightly. Dan wasn't wanting to take chances and making Heero mad at him, and stepped back, hoping it would make him feel less threatened.

However no one had been aware that small portions of the bridge were weaker than others.

Dan had stepped back a little too far, and a large crack began to form under his feet, the crack slowly snaked under Heero, who began to ease up on his glare at Dan, but kept the gun pointed at him, just in case, "IF you're not from Oz like you claim, just how in the world do you know me and Relena?"

Dan grumbled mentally, not having an easy time trying to figure how to explain it to him without sounding nuts. "Well, it's gonna sound crazy and all, but..."

"Crazy or not, try me." Heero darkly grumbled, still training the gun on him.

However, the bridge chose at that moment to give way, and Dan suddenly screamed as he lost his footing and fell towards the water. Heero had little time to react, and he too lost his footing and fell in after Dan.

Relena had safely gotten back, but screamed out at the falling pair, "Heero!" as both hit the water and sunk under...

Luckily, fate had been kind to both Heero and Dan, as they would soon wash up along the shore. Although they had been rendered unconscious by the impact with the water, they would both survive. It would only be a matter of time before Relena and help would arrive for both. That was, if it weren't for the fact that electrical pulses of energy began to pulse around the area both Dan and Heero were laying at. Soon, the rainbow-colored field of energy enveloped both, and shrunk inwards, and like Clint and Alex, and their stowaways with them, both Dan and Heero were gone. Again, just as this was happening, Relena had noticed the skies were in fact pulsating with energy, and she began to wonder what was going to happen, running off to find help to see if she could find Heero and Dan...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , Unknown, Hot Location)

Just as with Clint, Alex and Dan before her, Nina's experience was that of being inside a rainbow-colored psychedelic void. She too found she was alone on her uncontrolled trip. However unlike the others who had never before been through a gateway of some kind, Nina had a small amount of experience. She remembered it was in fact a gateway, a gateway in her own homeworld which had sent her through, dumping her out in Canton, Ohio. She was lost for a while in their world, having little concept of their technology, and also having little understanding of their society. She however soon managed to get on her feet, finding herself a house and a living space. It was from there a strange pull in her intuition told her to find a place known as Canton South School. The School was in fact the place where she first met Clint, Alex, Dusty, Devin, Vernon, Jason and Dan. She had also met others as well, some not so friendly to her, but it was this very trip that brought back those memories. That had all happened only months ago too.

As she stopped suddenly and crashed into the ground, she began to open her eyes, seeing the colored void beginning to fade out, revealing something totally different, and totally foreign to her. The ground she rested on was much like dirt, also in appearance. However the land appeared to have to reddish and yellow sky, and her surroundings, which appeared to be only small mountains and/or rock formations, made the place look like a quasi-wasteland.

She saw no sign of anyone present at all, and that worried her deeply, "Great, just perfect. Where did that portal dump me now?"

She looked around more, noticing a small group of rock spires to her northwest, and she decided she'd go that way. Her wings suddenly unfolded fully outwards to the side and started to flap slowly, as the bird-girl rose up and began to fly along her strange journey.

As she flew ahead, she overlooked the area from above. More of the same appeared in terms of terrain, but there were times she would come across small ponds which appeared to be filled with a red, blood-like liquid. She wasn't sure if it WAS blood or something else, like a hot spring, but she didn't think she'd want to fall into some. However as she fly higher, her eyes suddenly fell upon something out of place. Down below, near a much larger pond, more of a quasi-lake of the red liquid were two figures. One was apparently lying down on the ground, while the other looked to be standing on top of the first. She flew in closer, landing out of their site, and hid behind a rock formation to survey.

She soon realized that there must have been some kind of fight that had recently occurred. She first looked upon who appeared to be the loser of the battle, a tall-looking man, with a long spiky hair that appeared to go down his back to his thighs, and wearing a kind of black armored plate over a Kevlar-like underarmor. He looked to have been placed through a brutal beating, as she then turned to look at his assailant. This one did not look so human, but was still humanoid.

He appeared to a large, pink-skinned, hairless creature who was noticeably wide. He also appeared to have rough spike-like protrusions on his arms and even some on his head, and he had a malicious sneer on his face as he appeared to be stomping his foot down on the other man's back. His armor also appeared similar in structure to the other man's, but it was more a blackish-violet than a pure black color, and there appeared to be no crotch guard on his armor. Nina also notice he had a slightly purple-shade on his lips, which made him look creepy enough.

"Damn! When will you learn you stupid ape! You just can't defeat me! No matter how many times you recover and strengthen, I will still be too much for you! You're so lucky you can't die again when you're already dead, or you've have been gone a long time ago!" the pink-creature boasted at his foe as he stomped down on his back again, causing the loser to spasm violently.

"Go shit yourself, Dodo-brain!" the loser growled back, causing him to receive a third foot to his back, but he growled and continued, "You never grow stronger like me, so that little boast won't hold true forever!"

"Yeah, sure, and Buu's just a little angel isn't he? IDIOT!" the pink creature began to smash his foot into the loser's back several more times.

Nina thought grimly to herself, _What did he mean by, "When you're already dead?"_

She looked back, and noticed that now the pink creature had held the other man's head up by his hair and was now dunking his head up and down violently into the blood-like liquid near them.

"Dammit! This guy's already proven his point! Is torturing that guy anymore really necessary!"

She looked on as the pink creature spoke up, "You think I'm not growing any stronger Radditz, but that's because I'm not the one you need to fear! I'm not one of the ones who that strange demon invited to that tournament, and that special training. Compared to them, I'm an ant!" he said, then swinging the other man around by his hair and throwing him was great force, causing him to smash into a nearby rock face close to where Nina had been hiding.

The pink creature walked up near the fallen man, and held out his hand at him, and Nina could swear she saw a ball of blue energy forming on the end of his hand.

Nina looked on in confusion, "Is that Magic? No, it doesn't matter, this guy's too psychotic! He's done enough!"

She darted out quickly from behind her set of rock formations, to a spot where she was clearly behind the pink creature, and aimed out her hand in a strange pose.

"Hey fatty-boy!" she called. The pink creature turned around, just as Nina unleashed a massive fireball from her own hand, barreling straight into the guy before he got a glimpse of her.

The fireball erupted into a large explosion which clearly was too much for the creature to resist, as he was sent flying backwards, his armor torn to shreds and his now unconscious body burned horribly. His body crashed to the ground nearby, and he stopped moving.

Nina quickly went up to the fallen human-like man nearby, and looked over, "Man, that guy wrecked you up good, didn't he?"

The man's eyes opened at her voice being so close, as he looked her over, he looked confused, "Who... who the hell are you supposed to be! Where's Dodoria?"

"The pink guy? I blew him away from here with one of my attacks. He looks to be out cold."

The man growled, "I don't need your help, woman! I can take care of myself!"

"Easy there Spartacus. It sure didn't look good for you earlier!" Nina growled back at him.

"Big deal! We're both already dead! None of us can die a second time down here! Besides, I grow stronger ever time I get beat up like this. That fat pink piece of shit will get his deserts soon enough!" he replied.

"How can you two be dead anyway?" Nina asked, wanting to know about Dodoria's comment earlier.

"Isn't it obvious, girl? We're in Hell, the place the evil go when they die! I thought you knew, unless you're half brain-dead!"

Nina looked surprised, _Hell! How can I be here! I know I'm still alive, and the others are nowhere around! Something's horribly wrong here. _Nina looked down at the man, and bent over, grabbing his hand to pull him up. He reacted by trying to jerk his hand away, but he realized her grip felt like a vice, a much stronger vice than that clown Dodoria had him in.

"Unhand me! I can get up myself!" he growled at her.

"Geez, you're Mr. Angsty today aren't you? What's the problem with accepting a little help?" Nina spat back at him.

"Bah! You'd never understand any... what the!" the man was interrupted as he saw strange pulses of electrical energy forming both of them.

Nina had also saw it, and she had a strange feeling. She was so distracted by the sudden events, she didn't realize she was still holding tightly onto the other guy's arm, as both were suddenly engulfed by a rainbow-colored field of energy. As the field intensified, Nina and the other man, Radditz, both found themselves at the mercy of fate itself.

Radditz's final thoughts were along the lines of _Why must everything weird happen to me?_ as the two finally vanished from sight.

It would only be hours later when Dodoria would recover, to find Radditz missing, the culprit who blindsided him nowhere in sight, and odd scorch marks around where Radditz had been thrown.

He realized in horror, "SHIT! It wasn't supposed to happen this way! He wasn't supposed to be taken from here!"

He gulped, out of fear of what his superiors were likely gonna do to him when they found out this little undesirable piece of news...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , Unknown Island Gathering)

Just like all of his friends before him, Devin was also heading off on his own free-floating ride through the tie-dye-like void of rainbow colors, flying at hyper speed to a place he could only try to imagine. Like most of the others, the portal was an new experience, in fact one that didn't logically seem possible at their time in history. Earth was in the Digital Age, but it still had a long way to go, before things like transdimensional movement and time-travel could be considered. Soon Devin smashed into a hard surface, now believing it was time to open his eyes, having them still closed from in the theatre.

As he opened then, the rainbow-colored void faded away as it had with his other friends, and now he found himself on a concrete floor, apparently inside a small, closed off structure of some kind. Getting to his feet, his eyes danced around, surveying the room. As soon as he figured out his current location, he sighed. _Some kind of bathroom or something. Good thing no one's in here right now._

Devin quietly stepped out of the bathroom, and found to his relief the portal had at least dumped him out in the men's bathroom, so he didn't look too out of place to anyone nearby as he stepped out. In fact, as Devin looked on, he saw a large concentration of people around him. Some where at various game booths, others at concession stands. It looked much at first glance like Devin had stepped into a fair or a carnival of some sort. He decided the only way to find out for sure was to walk around and get a feel of the area.

As Devin roamed the grounds, he heard many different groups of people chattering about various subjects, but the thing he seemed to hear the most involved fighting, and the 'tournament'. Devin also got a glimpse of other people who in their own right appeared to qualify for wrestling matches and other martial arts. He had come across a cotton candy stand, and as he looked on, he could swear he thought he recognized someone at the booth.

He stood around Clint's height, and was wearing a kind of red gi with a strange kanji on the back, with hair that frizzled out all over the place. And with him appeared to be a small child, about 2 feet, with a bowl-cut of sorts, who was getting some of the cotton candy. Devin soon realized from the child's voice that she was a girl and not a boy, and she called the other man her grandpa. _You know, I could swear that pair looks like..._

**SMASH!** Devin found himself being knocked over on the ground violently, but he wasn't the only one. Another large person, apparently the careless culprit, had also tripped and fell along with him, Devin looked over to yell at him, but his eyes went wide with confusion.

"No way..." Devin's assailant appeared to be a large, round pink creature, standing about 6 feet tall, wearing a kind of overvest, with a pair of white, baggy pants, with a stylized "M" Devin actually recognized. But the guy's face was what confirmed Devin's suspicion. He appeared to have both his eyes closed all the time, with a kind of childish face, and his forehead had been the weirdest thing, appearing to have a strange tentacle-like appendage running down the back of his head.

"Ouch! Buu go crash!" the creature said in a strange, single-minded sounding voice, confirming Devin's assumption, "You okay kid?"

Devin grumbled to him, "Oh sure, just fine, considering I got smashed into by a creature that could destroy half the world by sneezing."

"Buu sorry! Me help you up!" Buu replied sincerely, grabbing onto Devin's arm and pulling him up.

"Thanks. Sorry about that reply. That just HURT." Devin replied.

"Me heal you. Whee!" Buu replied, and his strange forehead appendage turned up and pointed at Devin.

"Ah! I don't need to be turned into candy, thanks!" Devin said, but then realized as the appendage was actually shooting a beam that was healing him of that hard fall, "Oh... I forget... you heal people." he sweatdropped.

"You welcome kid! Buu need return to tournament quickly!" Buu replied.

"Wait, WHAT tournament?" Devin asked, wondering if he had been sent to what he thought he had.

"Tenkaichi Budokai! 28th Buu believes." Buu replied back, as he was about to head out.

"Wait, could you give me a lift there? If I recall, admission is free, but I'm new to this place." Devin half-lied. It was true he didn't know the area perfectly, but he was interested if this tournament really was what he thought.

"Sure! Buu take you there now if you want!" Buu said, lying down on his stomach. Devin noticed he didn't seem to mind the attention this was attracting.

"Get on Buu back!" Buu replied.

"Sure... if you say so..." Devin said, getting on.

Buu soon lifted up into the air, and took Devin along with him to the tournament stadium. At the stadium, Buu landed at a special group of stands near the top of the arena. "Buu is friend of Mr. Satan, so Buu gets special seats! Enjoy!" he said to Devin, and headed off, apparently if Devin thought correctly, to join the other fighters. As Devin began to look around, he figured out quickly these special seats allowed anyone sitting in them to see down into the area where the fighters gathered to watch the matches before theirs go on.

As he looked down, he surveyed several familiar looking people, including Buu himself. He looked more, but than got a surprise when his eyes fell on one particular fighter, one with lavender hair.

"Wait! What the hell's HE doing there! Where's that Ubuu kid?" asked Devin.

Apparently he saw the strange person he spoke of, and then the red-clothed man with the spiky hair he witnessed at the cotton candy booth walking into the ring. Both appeared to place themselves in a fighting position. Devin watched the battle begin, and surveyed with an awe he had never had before.

"They really are fast moving... But why's HE in this tournament? That's not how it happened in the show!" Devin mused.

Soon, he noticed the two fighters take a break. He then witnessed the two men's hair change from black and lavender to a golden color, and standing up on end. "Hmmm... this is definitely new to me."

He then saw the lavender kid do something he was very sure he wasn't supposed to be able to do, "NO WAY! How can HE also go that far! Hell, why is he even here!"

At that moment, Devin noticed Buu had come up to the stands for some unknown reason.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Devin asked.

"Buu forgot his cupcakes!" Buu replied, causing Devin to sweatdrop.

However, it was at that point,

Buu looked around left and right as if confused. "What that sound?" he asked out loud.

"What sound?" Devin asked, just as be saw a pulsing surge of electricity appear around the special seats.

Buu and Devin both began to see several pulses of energy surge around each other, and then the pulses merging, beginning to form a prismatic field that began to surround them.

"Shit! The portal must be opening again!" Devin replied.

"What a portal?" Buu asked, but it would be the last thing anyone else would hear him or Devin say, as the field completely engulfed the two, causing them to vanish into thin air...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; , On a strange island)

Vernon was no different off from any of his other friends as he was flying at high speed through the prisma-colored void of the portal. Vernon was still blinded and was still a little sore for his fall that he blamed for getting him sucked into this monstrosity. He honestly had no idea if he'd survive the exchange or not, and he was worried he'd never get a girlfriend, as only one of many thoughts passing in his head at the time. However, much as the others had experienced, he suddenly felt his body smack into the ground with enough force to make him open his eyes, and look around.

He noticed the colors of the rainbow void were beginning to fade away, just as it had for all his other friends, and as the land below him began to take shape, he had a sudden sense of danger hit him like a truck hitting a deer. He looked around at the ground in front of him, and found he was lying on the outer edge of a large crater, roughly 250 yards wide. He soon realized the crater was not the work of a meteor, and quickly got out of it, on to more solid ground.

As he looked around, dread filled his mind somewhat, as he realized he was gazing upon what appeared to be the ocean. He looked around more, noticing there were a few raised plateaus around him, but he saw more ocean water all over the place, and he began to realize he was probably either along a large coastline, or an a large enough island. Vernon decided that standing in place would not get his dozens of questions answered, and proceeded to move inland, away from the oceans, and away from that spooky crater.

He took one last look, wondering to himself, "I would guess only one thing could technically make a crater that huge with such efficiency, but that stuff isn't real." he tried to assure himself, but then he grew more worried. _DUH. I was just sucked into a large TV in a movie theatre, and Nina called it something like a portal or so. Maybe this isn't so farfetched._ he thought, as he then looked up and around for any signs that might confirm the theory brewing in his head.

As he walked on, several minutes passed, although Vernon felt it had been more of a couple of hours. The lands around him looked a lot alike, almost like something in a cartoon. This was only making Vernon more and more nervous. Suddenly his ears perked up, as he could swear he felt a minor vibration beneath him, and a tiny sound from the distance. He decided he needed to get closer to the source of... well whatever that was.

Vernon continued to walk towards the source, getting in roughly another 40 yards, before he heard a louder sound, and felt a much stronger shockwave, one that almost threw him off balance. Vernon saw a crack forming beneath him, and panicked, quickly lunging upwards, reaching his usual maximum height of 8 feet and 6 inches, and even a little beyond that, grasping along the side of a plateau, and pulling himself up.

"Damn! What's causing that!" he called out in surprise.

Vernon's answer soon came to him, but it was a close call. A large, yellow-colored beam of energy came streaking along the sky, coming in close to the very plateau he was standing on. Although the blast didn't get too close, Vernon's eyes bugged out a little as he turned to survey the still streaking blast as it came down and smashed into the naked ground behind him, tearing a large crater into the trench.

"Okay, calm down man, calm down! This is probably just a dream, some kinda hallucination from the portal. There was no way I just saw a ki beam rip past me." he said, pinching himself on the cheek to try to wake himself up, but he felt the obvious pain that came with the dread of knowing it was no dream, "Shit! This isn't a dream! Who's fighting around here anyways!"

Again, Vernon would soon get his answer, but in a frightening manner, as he suddenly saw a figure streaking along the sky to his left, but what he noticed was the figure appearing to be approaching back first. He then looked on in amusement as the figure, who he could identify as having black hair at least, smashed into a plateau close by, smashing it into rubble, which started to collapse in on the person. Vernon grumbled. Normally he'd be horrified to see something like that happen to someone, but he figured if his suspicion was correct, the guy would just get back up and be relatively undamaged.

As he looked ahead, he began to realize just how right he was, as he saw the rock pile slowly crumble aside and apart, as the figured broke out, and rose into the air, and looked ahead, almost as if his enemy was over in that direction. It was then he looked over at Vernon. Vernon looked upon the figure, now having a much better view of him. His hair was shoulder length, and black, with strange blue eyes, and wearing a long black shirt, with an orange scarf around his neck, and a pair a special jeans, which appeared to have a strange red logo on the side pocket.

"Ju... Juuanagou?" Vernon urked out in shock. At the mention of that name, the figure extremely had his attention focused on Vernon now.

Apparently Vernon had guessed correctly, as the figure floated in closer to Vernon, much to his dismay, and landed softly on his plateau.

He looked at Vernon with the look of an amused child or pre-adolescent teenager, "Well, you look to be a long way from home, kid."

"It IS you," Vernon said absentmindedly, "How is it possible for this all to really exist?"

Juuanagou, or #17 as he preferred to call himself, looked at Vernon, still with that amused smile. "Look, I don't mean to butt in, but you really need to head home. This is no place for some human kid to be roaming. I'm training with one of my partners right now."

Vernon grumbled, "Just great, who're you sparring with anyways?"

"#17! Where'd you go!" a gruff, mean-sounding voice boomed from ahead of them.

Vernon looked in the direction of the voice, for his expression to turn more shocked. The incoming figure appeared to be a green-skinned man of roughly 7 and a half feet tall, even taller than Nina was, he wore a familiar white and purple turban-like cap, along with an armor plate covered in a white cloak. His ears were also long and elongated like an elf's ears.

"P... Piccolo... speak of the devil's child himself..." Vernon said without thinking.

#17 looked at him with a look of more shock than amusement, "Kid, how did you know both our names?"

"I don't know if it's possible to explain it in a sane way." Vernon replied, "Let's just say I'm quite aware you two have fought before, before Cell interrupted your little match."

That declaration had #17 really curious, and intrigued, "Hey Piccolo! Come here a second! I think we got ourselves a fan here!"

"Stop playing games #17! We must continue!" Piccolo growled back, but then he got site of Vernon, "And who's this brat!"

"He claims to know of us both, and of our past battle 17 years ago." #17 replied.

Piccolo's mouth dropped, and he landed in close to both the android and Vernon, "What! How is that possible! No one but me, you, your sister, #16 or Cell would know about that!"

Vernon interrupted, "Look all I know is that some how I was sucked through some portal in a TV, and it dropped me off here in bizzaro-land."

Piccolo chuckled darkly, "Listen kid, nothing is bizarre about this world! It is all real! I don't know what kind of joke you're going at here, but I don't appreciate people trying to make a fool of me!"

"Hey, you're not the only one being played a joke on here!" Vernon growled back, "I have no clue why I got dumped out here. All I know is I find you two sparring for who-knows-what reason over here."

However Piccolo had lost his attention half way through his reply, and looked as if his eyes were tuned in on something.

"Piccolo, is someone coming?" #17 looked over, knowing that look meant something.

"No, I hear some strange disturbance in the air." He then looked up, and saw something horrifying, "Look up at the sky! It's pulsing!"

"But the Dragonballs are still scattered!" #17 replied in confusion.

"I know that genius! This is not a natural feeling! Wait! I feel... millions of new energy signatures, new life is appearing around us! It's all over the damn place!" Piccolo replied, his face agape in horror. #17 activated his internal scouter-like scanner, and sure enough, Piccolo had been correct. Literally millions upon millions of new energies were suddenly popping up all around them.

Suddenly they saw an arc of electricity pulsing down around their plateau, and Vernon felt a dread sense in his gut.

"What's going on here!" he yelled, as he saw the electrical energies flare up around him, #17 and Piccolo.

The android and Namekian attempted to fly out of the field, but a great force repelled them before they could move too far.

"Shit! This energy field is incredible! I can't escape it!" #17 growled.

"Makes three of us!" Piccolo growled, as a rainbow-colored sphere of energy began to encompass all three of the puzzled people, soon flaring up to incredible size, and then as quickly as it grew, it shrunk back down, all the way until it was less than even a tiny dot. With that, #17, Piccolo and even Vernon had vanished from site...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 9:02am EST/6:02am PST, Unknown place in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Inside one of the Caesar's Palace casinos within Las Vegas, a special show was to be put on for it's fans later in the week. The WWF had picked Las Vegas as one of the many locations on its' RAW tours, and in order for the wrestlers to train, a special ring had been placed deep in the basement of one of the casinos. In was in fact on this early Las Vegas morning two men in particular were stepping up to enter that very ring. Although on the air the two men were great rivals for their fans, they were actually good friends in real life outside the ring.

The man entering from the left was a stout man of six feet and two inches. He was a six time WWF champion, a three-time Royal Rumble winner, and also a King of the Ring champion. His head was shaved bald, preventing any from seeing his otherwise blond hair, and his mustache thick and slightly bushy. He wore a black vest with a picture of a rattlesnake with an open mouth on the front, and on the back were the words "Austin 3:16". He also possessed the air of a proud Texan in his stride as he walked forward.

The man entering on the right was a taller man of six feet and five inches, roughly Nina's height. He was an Intercontinental champion, a Tag-team champion, winner of at least one Royal Rumble, and a damn good speaker and charismatic as hell. There were even rumors he was ascending to movie-stardom at the time. His head was also nearly shaven bald, but some hair, appearing black, stuck out slightly. He wore a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes, he wore no shirt, but along the side of his right should appeared to be an extremely complicated-looking tattoo, looking to be one of a Hawaiian heritage.

The second man took off his sunglasses, throwing them into a pile of towels laying nearby, as he walked up to pull himself over into the ring, where his opponent had arrived first. After reaching the other side, his adversary looked over, trying to stare him down to intimidate him. The second man reacted in a similar manner, even going as far to raise one of his eyebrows in an odd, yet menacing manner.

The first man looked over, "So you're eager to get beat, Rock." he mused.

The second smirked back at his opponent, "Eager? Yes I am, Austin. But I'm 100 sure it won't be me who gets beat."

'Austin' looked back returning the smirk, "Let's get it on then, 'People's Champion'."

Steve Williams and Dwayne Johnson, better known to the public by their ring names "Stone Cold Steve Austin" and "The Rock". looked on at each one final time, as they began to stalk around the edges of the ring, each looking for an opening in the other's defense. Wrestling wasn't mostly about martial arts, but the two wrestlers were also not exactly competing in front of anyone expecting a show, so the two could fight realistically instead of just going by a script.

The Rock decided maybe some collective banter would open a hole in Stone Cold's defense and spoke up, "Show how's that neck injury faring up anyways Steve?" although it was also a question of genuine concern, The Rock knew his partner had a good dose of pride, and might choke on it as a minor insult.

"Speak no more of it Dwayne, the neck is not a problem now." Stone Cold grumbled back, knowing somewhat of his partner's attempt to open a hole to strike, and decided he'd speak of another subject close to Rocky's own.

"So how's the wife and new daughter anyways?" Austin replied.

The Rock almost stopped, thinking quickly of the fact his wife Garcia had just gave birth to a daughter: Simone Alexandra Johnson only a week or 2 ago. He felt a slight bit guilty he was still on the road for the RAW tour, but he also looked at it as getting money to support his new family. "Fine, Steve, actually if you really must know, they've both recently returned home from the hospital."

"Well hopefully Garcy won't think too low of you when I stomp your ass to the ring today." Stone Cold smirked with his challenging voice at The Rock. Both suddenly tensed up, decided they were going to make a full beeline and see who could clothesline the other first.

However before either man took two or more steps, they stopped suddenly, and looked around, almost like twins. "Rock, did you feel that?" Austin asked, his voice now truly serious, and slightly spooked.

"If you mean that chill in the air, yes I definitely did." The Rock echoed back, sounding equaled chilled and scared.

Suddenly, a small pulse of electric began to form close to the middle of the ring. The two men saw it and quickly jumped back, noticing more surges were appearing, as if there was a disturbance causing the pulses near the ring. Both men wisely flipped over the side of the ring and backed a few more steps away, as to make sure they wouldn't get shocked to death by the pulses. Soon both men began to see a sphere of rainbow colored energy form at the center of the disturbance, and they began to see something... no someONE fade in at the center of it all. As soon as it happened, the rainbow sphere faded away and shrunk down, and the pulses died down, leaving the strange figure laying in the middle of the ring, dizzy as hell.

The two wrestlers slowly grabbed onto the ring side, and pulled themselves inside, as to check on the strange, but strangely still alive... well he looked to be a borderline adult, around 18 years of age. He was about 6 feet and 3 inches, with a crew cut of brown hair. His shirt and pants did not tell too many tales, but from his face, he appeared to be of American ascent. The boy looked around wearily, not totally aware of where he was.

"Ugh, that was the worst ride I'll probably ever experience." he spoke.

"Yeah man, are you okay?" The Rock asked the boy, realizing he was conscious enough to respond. The boy looked over to him, and then over to Stone Cold. Although at first he didn't recognize them due to his dizziness, it quickly cleared up, and his eyes began to widen.

"W... woah! There's no way! Where'd that damn portal dump me anyways!" he spoke out loud, seemingly to himself.

"Portal? As in sci-fi portal-that-takes-you-from-one-place-to-another, kinda portal?" asked Stone Cold.

"Y... yeah... I know it sounds crazy, but I need to ask, where am I in the world?" asked the kid.

Although they were seriously wondering of the validity of this experience, they decided to just go along, and Stone Cold answered, "You're in Las Vegas, gambling city of the world of course! More specifically, you're kind of in the middle of me and Rock's training ring!" he then added out loud.

The boy's eyes snapped open, "WAIT A MINUTE!" his voice raising abnormally high even though he wasn't trying too much, "You two're Steve Williams and Dwayne Johnson, better called "Stone Cold" and "The Rock"! I thought you two looked familiar, but this... this makes no sense. I was just in Tokyo, Japan a couple of minutes ago, hanging out with 7 of my friends in a theatre, when that crazy quake hit, and then that portal." he mused, totally disbelieving of his situation.

The two wrestlers looked at him with a strange expression. "So kid, what's your name anyways? Might help us get you back to where he came from." The Rock asked.

"Name's Dusty Fausnight. And I'm not sure if you'd be able to help me much. I think my other friends have been sent all over the world too. I know many of them got sucked into the same portal." the boy replied, identifying himself at last.

As the two wrestlers heard this story, chills began to creep over all three of them. Dusty was horribly confused to why everything was happening to him. The Rock was nervous that there might have been some kind of government conspiracy behind this 'portal' that sent Dusty here, and Stone Cold was merely wondering if anything like this could be anymore than just some crazy dream. However, any doubts they had of what was going was were about to be erased. The bright lights overlooking the ring and the whole room began to flicker on and off, as if possessed by a ghost or apparition, and the ground was also starting to shake.

"Wah.. what's happening!" Dusty said, more spooked than before. After about 10 seconds, the lights were completely black, and apparently not going to turn back on, and the intensity of the small quake slightly increased. Now enwrapped in pitch darkness, the three onlookers could only imagine what would come next.

And then they hard **it** speak, a voice with a strange distortion, which made it sound like something from beyond anything possible,  **"Fellow friends of Earth, I must give you an important message."**

"Who's in here!" asked Stone Cold in a tone of anger.

**"I'm sorry, Steve Williams, my time is short. I must be quick and blunt with you three."** The voice paused, and then it continued,  **"Dusty Fausnight, I'm sure you're quite rattled to this portal that has scooped you and your friends up. I am sorry to say that there is nothing I can do to reverse the events of this day. Your friends are all alive, and they will all survive, and so will you three. You are all strong, stronger than you think."**

"Excuse me, what the hell are you talking about!" Dusty screamed in pure concern.

**"You were not sent here by a mere accident. A high and mighty force is responsible for all of this, and likely, that force will not stop here. It will bring forth more on you all, but you were all banded with those you met in the portals because you eighteen are among many who will save this world, and beyond, from the darkness, and the forces of evil. When you all recover from this day, I warn you, your world will not be completely what you remember it. Things will change, physically, mentally, and even spiritually. Many rules of your old world will no long exist Dusty. Things you believed only a dream will be able to be done in reality."** the voice continued.

"Woah woah! Man, can't you explain a little more clearly to us about this?" The Rock called out in response.

**"My time is running out. Do not worry, Dwayne Johnson, you and those you know and love will find your ways soon. But I must stress one thing above all else. All of you must stick together. Only united do you hope to stand a chance against what will come at you in the future. I will be honest. You will face what may be unspeakable horrors of your imagination. Some of you will realize your greatest dreams, and some of you will learn things about yourselves you never knew, but above all else, you "Misfits" must all work together as one to truly succeed.** the voice replied.

Dusty's voice snapped up, "Misfits! That's the name Nina gave for us when we all met her, and we became friends with her! How do you know of that!"

**"You must understand Dusty, I cannot tell your entire future, but understand that you will all grow to be incredibly powerful, more so than even I could've ever been."** the voice explained.

"But, who are you!" asked Stone Cold, asking in Dusty's place.

**"I am not allowed to reveal my true identity now, but I assure you all, we will speak again someday. Farewell... Misfits..."** the voice spoke a final time.

After the last echoes of his voice, Dusty, Dwayne, and Steve all felt as if their minds were being overwhelmed by a strange and painful force. Soon all three had completely passed out in the darkness of the basement ring room. However the darkness would soon be replaced by a rainbow colored light, and more electrical pulses. After about 30 seconds, the shaking of the world ceased, and the lights returned into focus. Revealing nothing in the ring, not even a scorch mark like the other friends of Dusty's own portals had left behind.

The world groaned in agony, although it was not a fatal agony, but as if it were getting stronger, larger, and bigger...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 9:05am EST/6:05pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Hachiko Towers)

The theatre in Hachiko Towers was horribly wrecked. The ceiling was almost completely gone, and there was even a slight drizzle falling over the area. Most of the chunks of the ceiling were completely gone, apparently having been sucked into the rift inside that TV screen. Many chairs had been uprooted from their original positions, and the fact many were bolted down said much for the strength of the rift. However as for the rift itself, the TV screen was still giving him a faint, lingering light, which appeared to be fading away. There was still a very low level of shaking, around 0.5 on the Richter scale, occurring in the area. Soon, the light in the TV completely faded away, and the shaking appeared to completely cease.

However the weirdness was about to spike again. As soon as all the shaking ceased, about 15 to 20 feet off of the ground in front of the seats, or what was left of them, a strange anomaly began to crackle and pulse with strange surges of electrical energy, and slowly a strange rainbow colored hole began to appear in the fabric of reality. The hole began to slowly expand and grow, to the point it was over 15 feet wide and high. The electrical pulses began to weaken in occurrence and intensity, but that hole still remained, as strong as ever. Soon, the electric totally vanished.

As soon as this occurred, the portal began to spit out several people in succession. First Clint popped out, along with the odd girl Paula he met in his experiences. Both crashed to the ground at different places, not conscious of what was going on, as Alex, then Vegeta, and then Goku were spat out of the portal and landed randomly along the ground, all three just as knocked out. Soon, Vernon, then #17 and Piccolo went flying out of the gateway, landing all over the place, just as unconscious as the other 5. Soon, Devin and also Buu went falling out. Buu ironically landed right on top of #17, but then rolled over off of him onto the ground nearby, while Devin, hit the ground close to Alex.

Soon, Dusty, Stone Cold and The Rock also fell out of the portal. Dusty landed near Goku, while the Rock was flung over near Clint, and Stone Cold landed close to Vernon and Piccolo. Dan, and then Heero went flying out after them. Heero landed on top of Piccolo directly, while Dan landed near Buu, and also Paula nearby. Then finally, Nina and Radditz came tumbling out. Radditz landed dangerously close to Vegeta's left foot, while Nina, landed ironically right on top of Vernon. Soon, after the portal had finally dumped out the contents it needed to, it began to erratically pulse and shrink down, until it finally appeared to vanish in a zipping light up into the air, causing the sky to quickly change to day and then back to night before it was finally done.

However there had been one more person laying just as unconscious as the rest of them. Jason was still snoring behind a couple of seats, laying sideways. He had lucked out and he had not been sucked up into the portal like the others. Jason suddenly opened his eyes, still blurred and dizzy, and a bit blinded as well. He felt a surge of pain in his head and felt around along his head. Luckily he detected no blood or any serious injury despite his fall. His vision still fuzzy, he stepped out from behind the seats that he had fallen behind, and looked around upwards, noticing the ceiling was missing.

"Woah, what kinda disaster hit this place?" He then walked forward a few steps. Until he felt his foot land on something soft and bouncy. Looking down to see what he stepped on, his eyes came upon Mr. Buu's unconscious form, his body being the bouncy surface.

Jason, finally recognizing him, began to step back, his eyes wide, "No way! I must be dreaming! That wasn't just Fat Buu's stomach I stepped on..." he droned to himself until he looked further around on the floor, he found Clint, Devin, Alex, Vernon, Dusty, Dan and Nina all laying on the floor along with Buu.

He also recognized several other figures, including Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and #17. And although he did not recognize Paula or Heero, he knew their presence was also cause for concern.

"What is going... NO WAY! How can those two be here too?" Jason suddenly yelled out as he recognized Stone Cold and The Rock laying amidst the pile of people in front of him.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!" he screamed in disbelief.

"Grragh..." he heard coming out of what appeared to be Vegeta's mouth. The short saiya-jin was the first among the large pile to wake up.

Not taking too much interest in his immediate surroundings, he tried to regain full composure, "Dammit! That felt like getting hit with one of Buu's attacks while forgetting to transform."

"Buu no hit that hard, do he!" Buu's voice suddenly sounded, causing Vegeta and Jason to look over towards him.

"Buu how did you... WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL IS THIS!" Vegeta roared as he finally saw practically everyone sprawled out over the theatre floor, including Goku, and even that Alex boy.

He then spotted Jason gaping on at them, and yelled, "Who are you, boy!"

"Vegeta, j.. just calm down, I don't know what's happening either." Jason stammered.

"AGAIN some weak human I've never met knows me by name! Do you know this clown?" he stated, grabbing Alex by one of his arms and pulling him up into Jason's view.

"Vegeta, don't hurt Alex! He's probably just as confused as you!" Jason replied, not bothering to cover the fact he knew Alex.

"So you know him after all. I just wanted to be sure. This fool bumped into me and Kakarott only minutes ago, and then we find ourselves flying through a rift in space or something!" he then put Alex back down, but this caused a light enough blow to jar Alex to consciousness.

"Argh... what the hell! I feel like I got hit by a commuter train!" he grumbled.

Buu looked on in amusement, finally noticing the vast amount of people in the room with him, and he also spotted Devin nearby. "Ah, boy is still okay! Portal must be kind of transportation!" Buu figured out on his own.

"Yes Buu, a portal takes you from one place to another." Vegeta grumbled non-chalantly, looking at the form of Alex struggling to get to his feet.

"Man that was a hell of a dream..." he grumbled.

"Boy if you're referring to you meeting me and Kakarott, you're very wrong." Vegeta growled, making Alex look up right into Vegeta's scowling face.

"HOLY SHIT! IT'S NOT A DREAM! IT'S REALLY NOT A DREAM!" he said and scrambled backwards a little.

"Quiet! You too loud! Buu got headache!" Buu growled, getting Alex's attention.

"Fat Buu! What're YOU doing here!" he then finally got a good look at the entire room. "Piccolo! Juuanagou! Goku! Them too!"

"What! The Namek and male cyborg!" Vegeta perked up, and turned to infact get sight of the two he had been looking for, "Just perfect! Our spar is ruined! Who are all of you?"

Clint was the next one to wake up. Although he was facing away from the commotion, all the loud yelling soon made him turn around. He saw everyone sprawled our all over the place. Jason was standing to the side watching everything, just as curious and scared as he was.

He also saw Alex getting to his feet slowly, yammering on with... _Vegeta... and wait, I see Buu... Goku... Piccolo... Android 17, and The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin!_ "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" Clint yelled out suddenly, getting every conscious person's attention.

"Stop yelling! Buu got headache!" Buu replied back again. Clint sighed, and then looked around more, noticing Dusty, Dan, Vernon, Nina, were also among the bunch of people. Apparently they were back at the theatre again. Clint then took sight of Heero as well laying on top of Piccolo, although he didn't really recognize him at the time.

He then looked over more near Dan, and his eyes bugged out, _Aw shit! Now my head hurts again..._ he thought, seeing Paula lying near them, just as out of it as most of the others were.

Buu soon aimed his tentacle protrusion at Devin's body, and again zapped him with the strange healing beam. Devin soon opened his eyes, and managed to regain visual focus, seeing Buu standing over him.

"Oh goodie. Buu's still here? What happened Buu?" he asked.

"Hey fatty, enjoy your nap!" Alex growled, noticing this.

"Oh no... you're back to wreck my day. I was actually having fun without you around." Devin joked sarcastically back at Alex.

"Welcome back man." Jason replied behind him.

"Ah, I wondered if you got sucked in too." Devin replied, getting up and looking to Jason. However he also took this chance to see who all was actually here. He noticed all the old gang had come back, if not all of them conscious at the moment, but also noticed Piccolo, #17 and Goku, in addition to Vegeta right near Alex. He looked over at Clint, but couldn't help see his face was a bit more red.

"Clint what happened to you?" he asked.

"Don't ask." Clint said sternly and bluntly, "Maybe I'll explain later. Ow.." he rubbed his sore face, "But we have a couple more local celebrities in here with us. Look down and close to you and then look behind me."

Devin whistled, "Yeah, I see Rocky and Stone Cold, Clint. Wonder who brought them back?"

"That'd be me." Dusty growled, now conscious and rising to his feet.

"Good morning Dusty. Have a good sleep?" Alex asked mockingly.

"Shut up! This is not funny!" Dusty growled back, the words of the strange voice in his head echoing loudly as he woke up. He had not forgotten.

"Geez who pissed in your corn flakes?" Jason asked sardonically.

"Look, I'm gonna assume each of you bumped into someone or another when we got sucked into that TV. Well I ran into Stone Cold and The Rock, and I'm sure you each can name who you bumped into, but that's not as important. Our world is changing guys." Dusty replied.

"That's preposterous!" Jason growled back.

"Look at this!" Clint growled back, "Half of these people aren't supposed to be real, and yet, they are all standing here, as real as they could ever be!"

"What'ya mean by we're not real?" Goku pouted as he got to his feet, having woke up a few seconds ago during Dusty's grumbling.

"Good, you're awake Kakarott. We're in a lot of trouble." Vegeta spoke, referring Goku to Alex, and then to the bodies of Piccolo and #17, and then pointing out Buu over near Devin.

"I see, Piccolo's here, as well as #17 and Buu." Goku replied, but then looked over tensely somewhere behind Vegeta, "Vegeta, stay right there a second..."

"What? What's going on?" Vegeta growled.

Goku floated up and floated behind Vegeta, "I don't believe it. It is him! Buu come here please!" he called over to the fat, pink creature, who reacted quickly, and was next to him in no time flat.

"You want me heal him?" he asked, pointing to Radditz's unconscious form.

"What! What the hell is HE doing here of all people! He's supposed to have been 20 years dead!" Vegeta growled as he turned to see Radditz, "Buu don't heal him!"

"Oh calm down Vegeta, he's alive now anyways. There's no halo around his head like the dead would have." Goku responded, defending his brother's presense.

"He tried to kill you and your son, and the Namek!" Vegeta protested.

"Yes, and so did you and Nappa." Goku retorted in an as-a-matter-of-fact voice.

Vegeta grumbled, "Nevermind, you make a point, but if you're gonna give him a chance, I say only one." Vegeta sighed and let Buu heal Radditz's body.

Radditz's eyes opened suddenly, and he looked around as if he were trapped in a prison, "Kakarott? Vegeta! Where am I!"

"Radditz, listen." Goku replied, "I don't know where exactly we all are, but we're not in Hell, and you are alive again."

Radditz looked up to find his halo gone, "But how! Wait! That one girl! She must've caused the portal that ripped me out of Hell!" he yelled.

Goku helped his older brother to his feet, and Vegeta watched him sternly, "A girl huh?"

"Wait!" Radditz looked over, seeing Nina on top of Vernon's unconscious body, "That's the girl! She took out Dodoria pretty fast, and tried to help me down in Hell. She seemed to act like she didn't know where she was. She must've been right."

"Buu, could you heal those two please?" Goku asked, pointing out Nina and Vernon respectively. Buu grabbed Nina and set her down on the steps nearby, and he healed Nina's body with the magics of his forelock like he had Devin and Radditz. He then turned to do the same to Vernon's body, which looked a little roughed, probably by having Nina land on him.

Nina woke up first, a little pained from her fall, but otherwise fine, she looked up to see Buu and her eyes went wide, "Wah! Get back!" she growled, using her magic focus to throw Buu a few feet away.

"Me heal you! Buu not want hurt you!" Buu replied quickly, holding out his hands defensively.

Nina blinked a couple of times and sweatdropped, "Oh... um... oops... sorry... I get a little shaky when I see odd creatures near me."

"Um miss?" Goku cut in, causing Nina to look his way.

She blinked, "Wait... you're Goku, aren't you?"

Goku was taken off guard by her sudden statement, "How did you..."

"And troll-hair over there is Vegeta, right?" Nina continued.

"Troll-hair! How dare you!" Vegeta growled indecently, but holding back the urge to blast her, partially because she also knew him and Goku by name, "And just how do you know us?"

"Devin's shirt has a strange picture of Goku doing one of his attacks on the back, and Clint's shirt has you on the back in two states." Nina replied.

Vegeta looked over at Clint, seeing in fact this was true, "YES! FINALLY I GET SOME RESPECT!" Vegeta chuckled somewhat evilly. "Wait... of course.. Kakarott's on the fat kid's shirt, isn't he?" he growled at that.

"HAHA! Even Vegeta thinks you're fat!" Alex laughed loudly.

"Aw bite me, you assclown!" Devin grumbled.

Nina looked over at Radditz, "Ah, so you did get drug back with me."

Radditz looked back, "Yeah, but I guess I have to thank you. I'm alive again now!"

"But aren't you evil?" Nina said, eyeing him suspiciously, "You did tell me we were in Hell."

"Well, you could say I wasn't the best of people, but I don't know if I consider myself that way now." Radditz replied, "Besides, baby brother and Vegeta here would easily be able to kill me if I even thought to try something. They can become Super Saiya-jins, and I can't. Hell, my powerlevel probably didn't even breach 30,000. And you took out Dodoria with ease. You could kill me even easier if you needed to."

Vegeta looked on with awe, "Well, I guess you gained some common sense while dead after all. How did you find out we were Super Saiya-jins?"

"Hell has a type of viewing globe, allowing us to look on at some of the events on other places. I specifically kept tabs on you two and your families. I am amazed by your progress. Especially I am jealous somewhat of Kakarott's achievements. Who'd have known there was a Super Saiya-jin **3** so long back?"

Vegeta grumbled at this, but Goku smiled his goofy, trademark grin and patted his brother lightly on his back, "You know Radditz, we could teach you to become a Super Saiya-jin, but that's gonna take time either way."

"I think I'd like that. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for my deceit 20 years ago, brother. I thought nothing of what you could've become back in those darker days. I was so focused on getting you on our side to combat Frieza, but I guess it doesn't matter now. He's dead anyways, and at least a few Saiya-jin survived." Radditz replied.

Vernon had soon come to, and he looked around, appearing calm on the outside as he looked over at all of these people. He also looked around and realized just as he had been suspecting, that Piccolo and #17 were in fact present, although still out of it at the moment. He also noticed Goku, Vegeta, Radditz, and Nina talking to each other, and Alex was hovering close to Vegeta.

"Hey Alex, having fun gawking over your idol?" he taunted.

"Vernon, shut up! I actually met Vegeta and Goku, you didn't!" Alex growled back.

"Yeah, but I still found Piccolo and #17 here, so it makes us even." Vernon replied, amused at his friend's reply.

"Yes... Buu, could you revive Piccolo and #17 as well?" Goku asked, overhearing this. Buu gave a mock military salute with a grin and floated over to both Piccolo and #17's bodies. He healed #17 first, being a little harder to heal with his methods due to his mechanical parts, and then healing Piccolo second, the easiest one due to his own healing properties.

Piccolo woke up first, and he looked around, noticing immediately of Buu's presence, and then he saw Goku, Vegeta, and even #17 and Vernon near him, but he soon recognized Radditz, and growled, "YOU. WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?"

Goku gulped, knowing Piccolo would quickly kill his older brother if he didn't intervene, "Wait Piccolo! He's one of us now! He's alive, and he wants to join us!"

"Did your trip through the portal warp your brain more than it already was! Remember the last time he said he'd change! He got you and him both killed because I had to fire my Makankosoppo through you two!" Piccolo protested.

"Listen Namek! I understand Kakarott might be letting his heart control him a bit too much, but I got the feeling Radditz is being sincere. He seems in awe of the fact we're both Super Saiya-jins, and he wishes to become one too so it seems."

Piccolo growled, "Vegeta, for all you know, he could be doing this to trick us someday."

"Yes, but he is still weaker than any of the Ginyu clowns. Even if he became a Super Saiya-jin now, you could still kill him yourself if he went evil again." Vegeta replied.

Piccolo gruffly said, "Well fine, but if he does try something, I will make sure he lives to regret it."

Radditz looked at him, "Fair enough, green man. Piccolo was it? I'll even promise you that if I go nuts, you can kill me with that little corkscrew of yours."

Piccolo smirked, "Fine, but you might not wish to go through it again. I'm much stronger than before, and the pain will be much worse."

"So exactly what is going on all around here?" asked #17's voice from behind them.

Dusty looked over at #17, "I think we've been all gathered up here for a good reason. Wait! Where's Dan anyways?"

Clint replied, "He's laying near me and this other girl, and also The Rock over here beside me."

"Hey, um Buu! Could you go over and heal the small boy with the glasses, the shirtless dude with the tattoo, and the girl in the dress over by Clint?" Dusty called to Buu.

Buu flew over to Clint, and looked over at the three he was to heal, and zapped Dan with his healing ray first, and then zapped The Rock second, and then zapping Paula last. He then flew over, and noticed Heero was laying near Piccolo, and decided to heal him before someone else asked him in order to save time. He then saw Stone Cold's body, and healed him as well. Heero began to get to his feet, as did Dan. Both's first sights were each other, and Heero instinctively reached for his gun, but found it had not been taken along with him in the portal.

"Woah! Heero! What're you doing here!" Dan asked, "I last remember falling over that bridge? Now I'm... I'm back in the theatre in Japan!" Dan looked around in disbelief.

"Japan?" Heero suddenly perked up, "This doesn't look much like Japan."

"Maybe not the one your used to, but this is my world Heero." Dan replied.

"Heero! As in Heero Yuy!" Dusty asked out from behind. Dan turned around, realizing all of his friends, and then some where all over the place, some talking to each other and some of the new people, and he even recognized Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and Buu. He did not know so much of #17 and Radditz however, but he could tell they were probably from the same place by their appearances.

He then saw the Rock getting up nearby. "Dusty, you might wanna look over here..."

"Yeah, I know, the Rock's right next to you. I ran into him and Stone Cold during my trip through that spooky portal." Dusty replied.

"Austin too?" Dan then noticed Stone Cold was getting up near Piccolo and Goku, and stammered, "We... well... this is cool... freaky, but cool!"

The Rock looked around cautiously, noticing the large number of people in the room. He didn't really recognize most of them, although he spotted Austin near the spiky-haired man and the green-skinned man, and he saw that Dusty kid at the other end of the floor.

_I guess that strange voice wasn't kidding. These must be Dusty's friends, and all the odd people they brought back with them. This is really happening. But why?_ However he saw Piccolo's face turn into one of shock, as he stared over at Dwayne.

The Rock wondered why Piccolo was looking at him so odd, only to realize, _He's not looking at me, but... that odd girl who just got up._ He observed the odd scene.

Goku had also focused on Piccolo's strange expression. _I haven't seen such a look on Piccolo in years._ As he turned to figure out what his Namek ally was staring at. He soon realized he was staring at the girl in the pink dress, and his own eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to remember some loose memory.

Clint was also watching this in a strange manner. He could only wonder why Piccolo was staring at her so odd. Maybe she had nailed him in the head one time like she had him.

Of course he was probably wrong, but he soon began to get more answers, as Paula spoke up for the first time, "So you're not dead after all." and the comment was straight at Piccolo.

"What do you mean I'm not dead after all!" he asked back.

"I very well remember you were killed when Goku used that one-armed blast and tore right through you! I saw you explode!" Paula growled back in reply.

Piccolo's eyes bugged out, "Wait a second! My father! You knew my father!" he stammered.

Goku's eyes grew wider, _She knows of how Piccolo Damiaou died? But only Tenshinhan, me and... WAIT! Her hair, her bow, her dress! Am I hallucinating?_ He looked Paula over from head to toe, and he soon had the epiphany.

"Hey! Over here!" he called out, getting her attention.

Paula looked over and set her eyes on Goku, then they went wide, "No way... that hair... there's no one else I ever knew with such wild hair." she mused towards them, "Goku is that you!"

Goku jumped up with joy at this, pumping his fist up, "All right! It is you! You have no idea how long it was since we met each other! It had to be nearly 30 years! Boy, you look young for being 39 years old!"

Paula sweatdropped, "What? I'm only 20, you goof."

"Huh!" Goku looked back, shocked.

"Goku, who the hell is she! How does she know of my father!" Piccolo growled, ready to strangle Goku for being so dense.

"Piccolo, you should know already. Your father's final memories, before he died." Goku clued him in.

Piccolo's eyes suddenly turned narrow. "You... now I remember you. You're the girl that distracted my father when Goku got the chance to lay the finishing blow." Piccolo grumbled.

"Wait a second." Paula mused realizing something, "You're the one in the egg he spat out when he died, aren't you?"

"Yes, my father transferred his genetic memories to me before he died. I was supposed to kill Goku, and you as well if we ever met again, but over the years, I realized my father was wrong. I became friends with his own son, and I reformed. I even gave my life to save Goku's son."

Paula stared back at him, almost looking to be looking right through the Namek, which unnerved him. Her look then calmed down, "You're right... I saw it... you trained him, and you saved his life twice at least. You apparently become one with another like you on some distant planet, and then who was apparently your good-half."

"How do you know that!" Piccolo asked.

"She's a mind reader Piccolo." Goku replied simply.

The others were looking at this situation strange, "Kakarott, who is she?" asked Vegeta, "You've never mentioned any of this to me!"

"Her name is Paula. She is an old friend from my childhood, back when I also was weaker than Radditz. She came along with me and Bulma after we met her in Yanyan Village. She helped on many adventures of mine, including when I fought Piccolo's father, but she vanished completely after we parted ways after the battle. I never saw her again, and I could never find where she lived, but now we suddenly have met again." Goku explained.

Alex looked at Goku with an odd expression, "Are you okay Goku? You must have bad memory recall."

"No, that's how it happened Alex. I'll explain more to you all, some day." Goku replied again.

"Yeah really, first things first," Stone Cold piped in, "Like finding out what the hell is going on here!" He then turned to Dusty, "Kid, do you think what that voice said is true? About us all having to join as one force? About the rules changing?" he asked.

Dusty looked around, "If it weren't for all these people running around here, I'd be skeptical of this, but I recognize some of these new people. It's almost as if..."

"As if what, Dusty!" Dan asked.

"As if our worlds have suddenly become one." Dusty replied.

"What! You mean to tell me you think this odd event has somehow merged several universes?" Clint asked in disbelief.

Piccolo added in, "It would make sense. #17 and I were sensing a large increase in the world's population just after we ran into Vernon. Goku, do you sense a larger number of kis on Earth now?"

Goku adjusted his ki senses to a low form, and he replied, "Yes Piccolo, I sense it just as well. I thought something was happening to the Earth. First the pulsations in the sky, and then the odd feelings in the climate when Vegeta and I met Alex."

"You guys saw pulsing skies too? Heero and I noticed it during our encounter as well!" Dan replied.

"I hadn't been paying attention, but I found myself at the 28th tournament when I got warped by the portal." Devin replied.

"We were underground in a basement when all of this happened." Dusty replied.

"I couldn't see the sky where I was. Too many trees." Clint replied.

Paula turned to him at the sound of his voice, "Ah, there you are."

"Ah! Don't close any closer!" Clint backed away.

"Wait! I wanted to apologize for what I did, and how some of my friends in the park were treating you," Paula then turned back to Piccolo and Dusty, "And by the way, I think I did happen to see the sky acting strange when I went out and bumped into him."

"My name is Clint, not 'him'." Clint grumbled.

"Yes, Clint." Paula added with a slight hint of annoyance.

"I couldn't tell if anything going on was strange where I was. Hell had red skies and a strange landscape, so I couldn't really tell normal from strange down there." Nina replied.

Radditz looked up and spoke, "Same here."

"Well, don't look at me." Jason said, "I didn't get sent anywhere, I've been here in the theatre the entire time, unconscious. Although it sounded like what you all did was cool. Why couldn't I have gotten sucked up into that thing?" Jason then pouted. Alex, Vernon, Devin and Clint looked at him and sweatdropped.

"Might I make a suggestion?" asked Heero, "This place appears to have gone through a wreck. Why don't we all move from here to a more stable ground. If this is the site of the portals that took you around, I don't wanna be here still if they come back." Heero replied.

"They won't. I don't think they will. We were sucked in specifically to meet people and come back with them, at least according to that voice." Dusty mused on.

"What voice?" asked Devin.

"You mean you guys didn't hear an ominous voice before you teleported back?" Dusty asked.

"Noooo... Explain Dusty." Vernon replied.

"Dusty means that before, he, me and Rock were sent back here, someone spoke to us from the darkness. He told us something about how the world was about to change, and that some rules would no longer apply, and that some of us would encounter things from our dreams, our worst nightmares, or other things. It told us that above all else, we're all supposed to stick together to conquer the dark forces that are supposed to come after us soon." Stone Cold responded.

"You guys sure you didn't just hear odd things?" asked Goku, "Because Vegeta, Alex and I never heard anything on our end."

"Ditto for me, Vernon and #17." Piccolo replied.

"Buu no hear any voice." Buu said.

"Hmmm... I can't say I heard a voice either." Paula commented, "And I don't think Clint would've heard it either with how he was when we warped out."

"Nope, I didn't hear anyone either." Clint confirmed.

"Look, why don't we just get situated somewhere. Is there somewhere like lodging around here?" asked Vegeta.

"Well, we don't live here, so we'll have to look around. We came here because we won a contest, and Clint picked some of us to go with him. We then went to see this one movie, and the projector got broken, causing the movie to stop, then the earthquake, and then the TV turned into a portal which sucked all of us, except apparently Jason into it." Dan replied.

"I see..." Piccolo said, with a slightly odd look, "Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu, Radditz. We need to test our Ki to make sure we can still fly or if we're gonna have to walk."

The other five nodded slowly, and began to concentrate slightly, and lifted up off the ground, floating a few inches off the ground. Piccolo then did similar. Alex and Jason looked up.

"Sweet! They can still fly!" Alex said giddily.

"Maybe that's one of the examples the voice was talking about when it said some rules would no longer exist." The Rock thought out loud.

"If that's true, that means we could learn to use Ki, and fly, and shoot energy from our hands too!" Vernon suddenly became interested in this situation.

"Yeah! That'd be quite cool!" Clint even perked up.

"Hmmm... that makes me wonder..." Paula then said almost to herself. She looked up at the sky, and sucked in a bit of air. With a loud scream, she called out "COME KINTOUN!"

"Huh!" asked Jason, "Who's Kintoun?"

"Jason you idiot! She means the Flying Nimbus!" Alex replied.

As Paula and now Goku, Piccolo and Vegeta looked up, they heard a distant purring sound, as a golden cloud began to zoom in at all of them. The cloud then came in close and stopped right beside Paula.

"No Way!" Vernon said with wide eyes, "That's means Dragonball's universe has merged with ours for real! There's no such thing as a Kintoun in our universe."

"Wait... flying nimbus... isn't that the cloud that Goku rode in the old series?" asked Dusty.

"Yeah, but if I remember, you have to be pure of heart to ride it." Dan replied, trying to dig up his rustier Dragonball information. "

Cool! It's still working!" Paula cheered, as she was soon seen sitting cross-legged on the cloud, "Although I swear it's gotten a lot larger since last time."

"Yeah, I used to take Gohan, my oldest son, on rides using Kintoun." Goku explained.

"Yeah, by the way, who did you marry Goku?" Paula asked back, "Please tell me it was Chichi."

"Actually yeah it was. She met me at the 23rd tournament. She and I got married right after I won and we went home." Goku replied.

"You won a tournament? Finally!" Paula raspberried Goku, "You lost the last two by mere inches."

"I know..." Goku looked down, "But my experiences have made me better or for worse."

"Hey um Paula, can I get on too?" asked Jason, "I wanna ride Nimbus!"

"KINTOUN you tard!" Alex corrected him.

"Shut up Alex! Whatever you call it!" Jason grumbled back.

Paula jumped off the cloud and said, "Go right ahead and try. But remember..."

"I know, but I'm very good." he said, as he jumped up.

Alex snickered, "Yeah right!"

Jason landed on Kintoun, and for a split second it looked like he'd stay on, but then he fell right through the cloud and onto his butt, "Ow! The hell? Damn cloud!"

"HAHAHAHA! You moron! You steal from people! That alone makes you impure!" Alex laughed.

"I do NOT steal Alex. That's more of something you'd do." Jason retorted.

"I don't need to steal. I have all I want already Jason!" Alex grumbled back.

"Then why don't you try to ride the stupid cloud?" Jason asked. "Duh! I know I'll fall through. I'm not gonna lie out of my teeth that I'm pure hearted, because I'm not!" Alex admitted.

Kintoun floated over and Paula jumped back on, and sat back down in a cross-legged position, "Alright, easy does it you two."

"Don't bother, they fight like this all the time." Devin replied.

"I'm sure, but can we please get out of this place and somewhere else?" asked #17 impatiently.

"Fine, let's go then." Clint replied. The eighteen of them soon moved out of the wrecked theatre. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, Buu and Radditz all used their Ki to fly out over the exposed roof, and Paula followed on Kintoun, and Nina decided to fly out with her wings in a similar fashion. After landing, they found themselves along the Shibuya Crossing again.

"Alright, so we're in Tokyo Japan, right?" asked the Rock.

"Shibayu-ku ward specifically." Devin answered, "But yes, this is the youth central of Tokyo."

"Wait a minute, I think I know of a hotel we can go for the night." Clint replied.

"Small problem, Clint." Alex spoke up," The eight of us who came here originally have free passes, but the other 10 of us will still have to pay. I don't think many of them have money for the situation."

"Shit. You're right. Do any of the rest of you have money?" Clint asked. "

Well, I think Rock and I can pay for you guys, if it's not too expensive." Stone Cold replied.

"Um, I don't know if they'll accept American dollars straight up, Steve." The Rock said, "We'll probably need to convert it to yen."

"Let's just find a place to stay, and we'll get it sorted out from there." Clint suggested, "There's a nice hotel westward up the road from here. If it hasn't been too badly effected by the quake, it should do fine for us."

"Very well Clint, lead the way, and quickly!" Nina said, the rain was starting to pick up, into a steady shower over the area.

With that, Clint lead the entire group of 18 up the street, until they reached their destination, and they all scrambled inside as quickly as they could...

* * *

Footnotes:

** 1** **Hentai** Japanese Word for 'pervert'. Also a more well known meaning is "X-rated anime". :P

** 2 Odin Lowe Jr.** A theoretical real name for Heero, which will probably be rarely used in Misfits, except in high-scale situations 


	3. Part 2: A Rouge Cell of Problems

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
-----------------------------

**Part 2: A Rogue Cell of Problems**

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 12:30pm EST/9:30pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku)

After the group of eighteen 'Misfits' had entered the hotel, they had gone up to the service counter, and Clint, Alex, Jason, Devin, Vernon, Dan, Dusty and Nina had used their contest passes for their free-of-charge stay. However as predicted, Goku, Vegeta, Paula, #17, Piccolo, Heero, Stone Cold, The Rock, Mr. Buu and Radditz all had to pay for their rooms. The total had come to roughly 43,556 yen, or roughly 464 dollars. When presenting his money to the clerk, Stone Cold and the Rock asked about converting the money to yen.

The Clerk had pointed the two wrestlers over to an exchange ATM, where the two were able to take are of their problem. Given a 944 yen tip, the clerk had asked the 18 of them about which rooms to take. He told them that each normal room held two people. Paula and Nina immediately volunteered a room together, not wanting to worry about the males perving on them, such as potentially Vernon or Dan, or any other potential perverts among the other new Misfits. The two soon had gone off to their room, room 215 on the third floor, leaving the other 16 to bicker about who got to share a room with who.

After about 3 minutes of senseless bickering, Piccolo had wisely come up with the idea to draw straws. He had created 8 pairs of straw in the palm of his hand. Each pair was a different length. The shortest pair of straws was for the first room, and the longest pair for the last room. After the straw picking had finished, it had been decided. Devin and Mr. Buu had gotten room 32 on the first floor of the Hotel. Jason and Radditz had gotten room 49, also on the first floor. Dusty and Vegeta had ended up with room 103 on the second floor, much to Dusty's major worry.

Clint and The Rock ended up with room 106, not very far from Vegeta and Dusty, and also on the second floor. Dan and Piccolo had ended up with room 214 on the third floor, right across from Paula and Nina ironically. Heero and Stone Cold had ended up with room 226 on the third floor. Vernon and Goku had ended up with room 125 on the second floor, and Alex and #17 had gotten the last room, room 4, right near the lobby, and the closest to all the noise of the hotel, much to their dismay. Although some where disappointed in their picks, they soon parted ways from their rooms.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:05pm EST/10:05pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 32)

Devin and Mr. Buu had reached their room about 30 minutes ago. While Devin had a few things to put away, Mr. Buu immediately had gone and turned on the TV in their room. An episode of "Iron Chef" had been on when this had occurred, and Mr. Buu had immediately been captivated by it, and he was getting hungry.

"Buu hungry!" he whined.

"Go order for room service. Just don't overbuy food." Devin advised, not wanted to know how it would get under Stone Cold and The Rock's skin if the other 10 had spent too much on food.

Devin had decided that while Buu was doing his thing, that he would go in and take a small shower. Although we do not know all the details, Devin had gotten out after 10 to 15 minutes, drying off and only wearing a pair of boxer shorts, that he became witness to Buu with 3 trays of food at the foot of his bed. On the TV now was the anime called "FLCL", or Furi Kuri.

"Buu, how much did that all cost?" Devin asked, his eyes slightly perplexed at all the shiitake, sushi and even some pocky that he had seen on Buu's trays.

"3253 yen the man say." Buu replied. "That's about 35 dollars. Buu don't buy anymore for a while, okay?" Devin asked.

"Why not? Buu will need eat again when wake up." Buu replied.

"I mean tonight. I don't want Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock letting off steam at you. I can get as much as I want, and so can Clint, Alex, Vernon, Dan, Jason, Dusty and Nina, but the rest of you have to pay for what you get." Devin explained.

"Oh. Okie dokie!" Buu grinned and continued to eat.

Devin had looked at FLCL on TV, "What the hell are you watching?" he asked.

"FURI KURI!" Buu said loud and happily, "FURI KURI!"

("Shh! Quiet!") said a male voice from a room nearby, ("We're trying to sleep!")

"Sorry about that! I'll keep him calm!" Devin called back.

("Please do!") said a different voice, this one female, and then Devin and Buu heard a strange moan from behind the wall.

Devin sweatdropped, and Buu looked confused, "Why they so mad?" asked Buu.

"I take it you have no idea what hard love is." Devin replied.

"Me know love, but what 'hard' love?" Buu asked.

"I'll explain it when you're older." Devin joked, making Buu confused. Devin decided he was going to curl up in his bed, and put the pillow over his ears, in order to muffle out the unnecessary sounds of the room next to him. Buu merely went back to watching TV, and enjoying FLCL and his sushi meal.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:14pm EST/10:14pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 49)

Having gotten to their room, Jason had decided to put some of his belongings away in one corner of the room. Radditz just kinda drug himself over to the closest bed and plopped down in it, burying his face in the bed.

Jason looked over, surprised, "I thought Saiya-jin were a lively bunch?"

Radditz grumbled and turned his half covered face to Jason, "Usually we are, but if you haven't been listening, I had my ass kicked by Dodoria before I met you guys, and my body still needs to rest it off."

"Wait, you said your powerlevel was 30,000 or more right?" Radditz just nodded, a but irritated. "Then how could Dodoria defeat you? Zarbon I could possibly understand, but Dodoria maxed out at 22,000."

"He WAS 22,000 when he died on Namek at Vegeta's hands, but he and Zarbon, as well as the clown Ginyus got stronger from later training. Unfortunately, I still couldn't close the gap on any of them before they died, so Nappa and I were considered their punching bags. However Nappa vanished in the recent months for unknown reasons, and I got double the beatings from that fat pink piece of shit." Radditz growled.

"But if you came back to life, shouldn't you be healed anyways?" asked Jason.

"My BONES were healed, but I'm still badly bruised up and sore. I need to sleep it off." Radditz replied, "Now please just do your own thing, and let me sleep."

"Wait. Why didn't you just ask Goku, Vegeta or Piccolo for a Sensu bean?" Jason asked.

"A sensu what?" Radditz had never actually seen the sensu beans used, so he wasn't aware of their power.

"Sensu beans are if I remember right, a magical bean that when eaten, will basically heal the person completely. It also can fill an appetite for 10 days, or so it was said." Jason explained.

Radditz opened his eyes wide at that statement. "Um... I'll be right back. I need to find Kakarott or Vegeta and get one of these beans..." Radditz got off the bed, and ran quickly out of the door, to track down his younger brother, or Vegeta.

Jason sighed to himself, and like Devin, had decided to clean up, and took a long bath for around 30 minutes. After finishing up, he left the bathroom with his towel around his waist, noticing Radditz had been in the nearby bed, his head buried in the pillows, and Jason could tell he was asleep. Jason just decided he would get into his night clothes and after going back into the bathroom and doing so, crawled over into his bed and fell asleep as well.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:16pm EST/10:16pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 103)

Dusty and Vegeta had also made it to Room 103, and Dusty soon unpacked his belongings in a shelf near where he had picked out his bed. Vegeta looked around with a neutral expression, and decided while Dusty was looking around to get into the shower first, having been dusted up from his prior training session with Goku, the same one Alex had interrupted.

Vegeta thought intensely to himself about the turn of events as he was in the shower, and was almost in a distant glare at the wall as he though, _That kid in my room, Dusty. He mentioned a voice told him that we were all supposed to band together to fight some great darkness. But exactly what could be a threat to either Kakarott, his son, or I anymore? Buu might be strong, but he's the good half. Few of those people have any kind of decent powerlevels. Most of them have somewhere under 11, Alex seemed to have roughly 8 or 9. The 'wrestlers' are stronger by a good deal... they feel to have around 100 for a powerlevel, but even to Kakarott's human friends, they're nothing. That Heero has something around a 60, even a lesser strength then the wrestlers. In fact, the only others people aside from Kakarott, the Namek, myself, Buu and Radditz are the two women. Both of them are actually giving off powerlevels that could threaten anyone in Frieza's old army, both seem to be near 1 million. Still compared to even #17, that's very minor. Radditz... he appears to be a 32,500 right now... and he's... wait why the hell's he coming to me!_

Vegeta heard Dusty talking to someone, who he assumed was Radditz, outside the bathroom door.

"Hey, Vegeta, you busy?" Radditz's voice came through the door.

"What do you want, you fool! I'm in the showers!" Vegeta snarled, still a bit concerned about Radditz's allegiance.

"I just wondered if you had a sensu bean or something." the 3rd class replied.

Vegeta scowled, "What told you? That viewing globe in Hell?" he asked cautiously.

"Jason did." Radditz replied.

"Great..." Vegeta said sarcastically, "I owe him a scare for blabbing it to you like that."

"He just thought it'd be more convenient and..." Radditz started.

"Radditz, I'm not exactly able to come out right now. Why don't you just get a damn bean from Kakarott! I'm sure he'll be more than happy to give you one!" Vegeta interrupted, not fond of having his shower interrupted.

"Okay then, thanks Vegeta." Radditz then was sensed to be moving away quickly from Vegeta, and closer to Goku.

"Finally! I can get out now." he grumbled.

Outside, Dusty had turned on the TV and was watching a program much similar to Ultimate Fight Night. He wasn't able to find wrestling on TV, so he had to compensate for it. He had ordered a little bit of food as well, although when Vegeta had come out of the bathroom, he noticed Dusty was glued to the TV, and quickly grabbed a blue pair of boxers and pulled them back into the bathroom to change. Dusty began to examine the food he had order, as he was additionally a Senior Cook at his school's personal restaurant. He was considered to be one of the best cooks in the school, and looking over other peoples' work helped him in making his own dishes. Vegeta soon came out of the bathroom.

However his eyes narrowed slightly, as he felt Radditz's powerlevel slightly rise. About 2,000 degrees, now reaching 34,500. _I knew Kakarott would give Radditz a sensu. Although I still sense he's tired for some reason. Maybe being revived by a freak accident of nature does that to you._ the royal Saiya-jin though to himself, as he got a better look at Dusty watching TV.

"What the hell is this bull?" he asked, watching the kick boxers hitting each other around the ring on TV.

Dusty looked back, "Finally, I need to clean up!" Dusty said and tossed Vegeta over the remote, who lazily caught it in his hand as Dusty closed the door behind him.

Vegeta looked over the food Dusty had left behind, and he took a sample of the sushi, and he was actually impressed.

"I think I'll order some of this myself." he smirked as he picked up the phone near what he had picked to be his bed...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:16pm EST/10:16pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 106)

The Rock and Clint had also followed Dusty and Vegeta as they went to their own rooms. They were barely any real distance from the Saiya-jin prince and the loud-voiced cook down the hall. Clint immediately went to the bathroom to clean up. Dwayne grumbled as he realized that he had no other clothes to sleep in. He had only his special shorts given to him for his act by the WWE, and he had left his sunglasses back in the basement in Las Vegas. He figured he might want to contact them and let them know he was okay. However his encounter with that odd voice made him wonder if he should call them right away.

Of course, there was a good chance Stone Cold would still contact them anyways. He picked up the phone, and went to dial the WWE's number, but for odd reasons, he got an operator on the other end who said there was a mysterious error with the phone lines to WWE. The Rock no doubt figured Stone Cold would soon have the same problem as he did. Maybe those disturbances hadn't fully cleared up yet from earlier.

While cleaning up in the bathroom, Clint had been thinking deeply about the events causing the merger. His headache from Paula's frying pan had mostly cleared up, so he wasn't so grumpy anymore, however he still felt he couldn't help but be weary around her, even if she had apologized. He however began to wonder if what he had encountered in the rift made sense. The people of her town had accused him of being some kind of invader, and claimed only "THEY" could teleport like he did. He began to blink his eyes as he suddenly gotten something that was allowing him to slowly put this together.

He now realized he did in fact recognize Paula, and he had a good feeling of where he ended up. But all he could wonder is where in the world would her hometown be on the world map now, especially if the merger had been in fact true. Of course, he didn't just think about her hand in this. He was confused as hell about the fact Goku, Vegeta, Radditz, Piccolo, #17 and Mr. Buu, characters who were supposed to be only a product of Akira Toriyama's imagination, had actually existed in reality. The more he thought of it, the more he believed this 'merger' was the real deal.

Clint soon had dried off and changed into his own night clothes, and walked out to see the Rock tapping the end of his bed phone on the dresser lightly, as if he too appeared to be thinking deep.

"You okay?" Clint asked wearily.

"Oh, I'm okay. I just got done finding out I can't contact the WWE or anyone else like my own family in America that I'm alright." Dwayne replied.

"I know you probably don't believe any of it, but do you think this whole 'merger' is really happening or already happened?" Clint asked him.

"Actually, I do believe it. As your friend said, he, me and Steve all heard that strange voice speak to us before we got sent here to Tokyo. And I didn't tell the others back there, but I have seen Dragonball Z a few times during our tours. I'm sure Steve has at least heard of it too. I recognized Goku, and I think Piccolo too. I don't know too much more though." Dwayne replied.

"Yeah, Dusty and Stone Cold said something about the voice telling us all to stick together as a team. Do you agree with this or not?" Clint asked back.

"Well, I admit I'm worried about my wife and my newborn daughter, but the voice also told us we would learn things about ourselves that we never knew, and that we would one day grow much stronger than he imagined." Dwayne replied.

"Hmmm... I had no idea you had a kid now." Clint replied.

"Simone is her name. She was born only about two weeks ago." Dwayne explained.

"Ouch... I can see why you're worried about them." Clint replied, "I myself am only a Junior in High School, and I have no real relationship, but I never bothered to try either. I don't think I'll find anyone too easily. Nina named us all, herself included, very accurately as "Misfits". We're mostly in a way outcasts where we come from." Clint replied.

"That makes me wonder, was Nina one of you BEFORE this happened?" Dwayne asked.

"Yeah, why?" Clint asked back.

"Because she seems like someone who would have come through like Goku and them had." Dwayne explained.

"I know, but I don't think she'll explain it to us. I always thought I recognized her somewhere, but then again, I think I also recognize that Paula girl too." Clint replied. Their talk would continue for another 10 to 20 minutes before both of them would decide to try to get to sleep...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:01pm EST/10:01pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 215)

Earlier back, Nina and Paula had both reached their room. Nina set down her bags from Shikotama no kaimono in her corner of the room. Paula on the other hand looked a bit more tired and just sat down on the bed, and looked over at the ground.

"You okay?" Nina asked.

"Yeah, fine. You?" Paula asked back.

"Um, a bit shaken by this, but not too worse for wear." the winged girl asked back, it was then she realized that she should probably take a shower of her own, and wash the dirt out of her clothing. "

I'm gonna go clean up." Nina said to her.

"Right. See you later." Paula said, as Nina shut the door behind her.

As soon as Nina was gone, Paula got off the bed, and quickly climbed in. She was actually a bit tired. It wasn't that she disliked Nina or anything. She just wanted to sleep after her encounter with Clint and the portal. Although she did wonder why the portal chose to drop him off in her hometown of Twoson. Burglin Park had gone a spook at his appearance, and she had been called over to help handle the problem, only for it to be a false alarm when she read Clint's memories, including of the rift forming in the theatre.

As she drifted off to sleep though, thoughts about both Goku and Piccolo had began to cloud up her mind. She had last seen Goku when she was 8, and he 15, but she was confused. Goku thought she was 39, but she was only 20 years old. Why would Goku had thought she was that old? It hadn't made any sense to her. However she was too sleepy to keep thinking, and drifted off.

Nina had realized that taking a shower might not have been the best idea afterall. Although she could compress her wingspan in certain confined areas, she also wanted to try to clean them off as well. She began to really wonder if her wings were truly worth having around. She could only wonder if that curse about her wings were true. Her purplish-black wings were in her world, the sign of what was a bad omen. Her home country believed the omen would destroy it. Her parents had to either destroy her, or send her off on her own, away from her home country. They had chose the later to keep her alive.

The trials of her life would have made many other women cold and uncaring, but Nina, despite gaining a slight bitterness towards people bickering, and towards being hit on by men, was still rather caring about her friends. She wasn't so soft as to not scold a friend when he or she was being stupid though, and she believed that was how anyone's friends' should be. She did wonder a little about Paula and her own history. Paula had said she knew Goku as a child, but according to what she knew about Goku from Clint and the others, Goku never had a friend like her helping him in his childhood.

Maybe their history was just messed up, or something else was out of place. When Nina had looked at Paula, and into her own eyes, she saw more than just any other woman. She saw the feelings of a similar spirit in her. Paula appeared to have undergone trials of her own. Although she seemed unwilling to talk much about it, Nina was worried about her.

When Nina finally dried off, she had slipped into some of the undergarments from the store, and decided to break them in that night. However as she walked out of the bathroom, that Paula had fast drifted off to sleep.

_Maybe that's why she wasn't so talkative. She was just tired._ Nina realized, "I'll talk with her in the morning." she said, "But she's making a great example. So I'm gonna get to sleep before Vernon or Dan decide to try and sneak a look at me or something, those goofs." the winged girl said, slipping under her own covers, and slowly drifting off to sleep herself...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:19pm EST/10:19pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 214)

In their own room, Piccolo and Dan had set down their things. That is, Dan set down his things. Piccolo had no problem in continuing to wear his weighted clothing even as he began to meditate over the bed he would've otherwise been sleeping in. Piccolo was a Namekian, and obviously he wasn't in much need of sleep. However he was having problems mediating, not because of Dan running the shower in the bathroom.

It was because he was surrounded by several kis that scaled in under 10, and some over 50 aside from his familiar allies, and two around 1,000,000. _Feh. Most of these fools are so out of it. That loud-mouthed kid and the wrestlers keep speaking that we're all supposed to be one large group. Ha, they'll have to get some extreme training before they can even think of trying. Powerlevels of 8 to 11 are barely worth it._

Although Piccolo was still skittery about his encounter with Paula. He had given up any thought he'd see her in his lifetime, the same girl who help lead to his own father's death at the hands of Goku. Her presence would no doubt be one of constant watch over him. She might have been convinced they were not enemies anymore, but he knew no one just went out and trusted him so easily, so soon. Only Goku had any show of quick trust. His other friends were slow to accept his change of heart, and even then it was Gohan of course that even lead him to that decision.

Dan kept thinking over his encounter with Heero, and he was also thinking over the fact that he really had been in Gundam Wing's universe, at least he assumed it HAD been independent until that rift, and the rest of the merger Dusty had been hinting at, had occurred. He had been on unstable ground with Heero, after blurting that he had known about Heero and Relena. He did not know how Heero was taking these major changes in his life. He wasn't even sure of Heero was going to believe in all of this. He didn't care though. He knew from his best friend's words that things were going to definitely be changing.

Even before hand, he had been at one time thinking about joining the army, and putting his thinking skills to good use in the wars overseas, or in national security. However he was wondering if training to become like a Z-senshi would be a better choice. Soon he had gotten out of the shower and into some nightclothes, and he walked outside, and saw Piccolo trying to meditate. Dan knew from what knowledge he had on Piccolo that he was usually deadpan serious and he was a big mediation buff, but Dan could tell he looked disturbed by something.

"You okay Piccolo?" he asked.

"Dan. I want to ask you a serious question." Piccolo replied in a surprisingly neutral tone.

"Yes?" Dan could only wonder what the Namekian would ask him.

"Do you really think it's possible that all of you and your friends could become a force of justice?" Piccolo threw the question at him blunt.

"Why do you ask me this?" replied Dan.

"Because... because if you are willing to do so, it is possible for all of you to train yourselves, to much in a way like us. I don't believe you'll become too horribly strong though. You're only human it seems, and most humans I know peak at around 40,000 for a powerlevel. Compared to such things like me, Buu or even Goku and Vegeta, that's almost nothing." Piccolo admitted.

"Who knows though, Piccolo. Maybe that limitation no longer exists either." Dan said in a challenging voice.

Piccolo snarled lightly, "Hah. I wouldn't be so confident about what your friend told you about the rules. I don't think limitations are affected by the so-called 'rules'."

"Oh really? You know what I think Piccolo? I think no one has any true limit at all. No one, not a human, not a Namekian, and yes, of course not a Saiyan. I think Yamcha and the others are just weak of will!" Dan replied.

Piccolo smirked and actually chuckled, "Well you certainly have balls to say that about them. You know what. Perhaps a bet... would work out for this."

"What kind of bet?" Dan asked.

"If we manage to train new humans to a base higher than 45,000 degrees within the next 3 months, I'll teach you and your loud-mouthed friend personally how to do the Makankosoppo1." the Namekian replied.

"And if we lose?" Dan asked.

"Then I declare all human training a lost cause. What do you say?" Piccolo added on with a confident smirk.

Dan grumbled to himself, but he thought about it. "DEAL." Dan said. The two shook hands.

"Now if you don't mind, I wish to meditate, and I'm sure you need sleep, just like all weak humans do." Piccolo ended with a challenging smirk.

"Trust me, humankind will make you eat those words." Dan grumbled, as he decided he did need to rest, and pulled himself into bed, and decided to put his head under the pillows. The last thoughts on his mind as he feel asleep were Piccolo's arrogance, and how he was going to enjoy proving him wrong in 3 months.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:20pm EST/10:20pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 226)

Heero and Stone Cold had quickly reached their own rooms. Aside from Paula and Nina, who's own powers were apparently equal to each other; Heero and Stone Cold were the next closest pair of Misfits to be close to each other in strength. The fact both were more down to earth than the other pairs of Misfits made them more relaxed around each other. Although Heero was having a hard time accepting the fact his world, and probably several others were forming into one, he still wished to get an understanding of some of the other 'allies'.

He felt relieved he hadn't gotten paired up with Dan out of the fact that he'd have Dan scared out of his mind after threatening to shoot him earlier. Heero had realized none of the others had any connection to Oz by now, but he knew Dan would be shaken over that incident for a while. _Oh well, he'll eventually snap out of it._

He had noticed Stone Cold had decided to sit down on the bed, looking around the room. Although he himself didn't much else clothing wise, he decided he'd wash up first, and walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Steve watched Heero walk into the back, and was also thinking heavily about his encounter with Dusty, and how he, Dwayne and Dusty had also heard that strange voice. He also knew that by now the WWE would be looking around frantically for both of them. He also knew Dwayne's family would become extremely worried if they didn't try to contact them soon. He picked up the nearby phone on his bedstill, and dialed up the number for the WWE. He put the phone to his ear, only to get an operator, who claimed there was an unknown error in the dial-up sequence.

Stone Cold cursed softly and tried dialing a second time. The same error occurred. "Dammit. Something's wrong over there. I wonder if Rock's having a similar problem as I am." Steve said, knowing Dwayne was likely trying to call his family to let them know he was fine.

Steve himself wasn't on perfect terms with his own wife Debra, but he knew he needed to at least try to get a hold of her as well, and dialed the number for their house in Texas.

However oddly enough, he had gotten the same error as when he tried to call WWE. "Maybe the merger's responsible. If that's so, it'll probably be cleared up by tomorrow or so." he figured.

Soon, Heero had come out of the bathroom, and looked at Stone Cold, "Is something wrong with the phone?" he asked, noticing Steve's expression, and the fact he was just holding the phone absentmindedly.

"I think the merger's still messing things up over in America where I live. I can't contact the wrestling federation I work for, and I can't get a hold of my wife in Texas either." he explained back.

"Hm. What about your partner? Same federation as you?" Heero asked.

"Yes, Rock and I work for the WWE, and I can't help but think he's having the same troubles as me. But he's in a bigger bind than me. His wife recently had a kid a couple weeks ago. He was on the current tour to help raise more money for them."

"You two friends or rivals?" Heero couldn't help but ask.

"In the script, we're rivals big time. He's a 'good' guy, and I'm a quasi 'bad' guy. More that I'm just the no-authority type who does what he wants when he wants. Outside the script we're good enough friends. We had been practicing when we met that Dusty kid, and heard that voice." Steve explained, "So what about you? Where do you come from?"

Heero looked up at the ceiling, as if to look into his memories, "I'm sure you won't believe me anyways, but I was once a space-fighter. I came from Earth, but in my... universe, there were many space colonies. I was one of the strongest mobile-fighters in the rebellion against 'Oz', which had their own agenda for the colonies. That war had ended a couple years before I met Dan, but we didn't start off on the best foot. I thought he was an Oz spy since he knew me and a friend of mine by both name and appearance."

"Hmmm... well for what it's worth, I'm sure he'll get over it soon enough." Steve replied, "You seem to have realized the truth yourself."

"Yeah I know, but I can't help but wonder if my life's only beginning all over again now. You and your friend said yourselves a voice told us all to band together as a single group to fight some evil power or something." Heero replied.

"Something like that. I'm not sure just how much I can believe it though, but the voice did say all of us would grow in many ways. Strength, understanding of ourselves, etc." Steve replied, "So what about all the others? What do you think of them?" Steve asked Heero.

The Gundam pilot thought to himself, "Well. Dusty seems he's a bit of a loud blabbermouth to be truthful. The green man, I believe his name was Piccolo, seems a little bit TOO serious even for my own tastes. The fat, pink one, Buu or whatever, he seems a bit naive for his own good, but so does that Goku character too. Clint, as he called himself, seemed levelheaded, as did Vernon and Devin. I don't know so much yet about all the others."

"Well, I need to wash off before I go to bed, but I wish the portal had at least sent some clothing over with us. Rock's probably mad at that fact. He didn't even have a shirt with him when he came through, and his glasses are probably back in Vegas." Steve said, rising from the bed and walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. Heero decided that tomorrow might help sort things out, and curled up under his sheets, and put his head under the pillows.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:18pm EST/10:18pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 125)

Back on the second floor, Vernon and Goku had reached their rooms around the same time as Piccolo and Dan had. Goku had little he needed to put away. Although he did take out a small pouch under his belt and placed it on his bed stool. Vernon had been putting his stuff he got from Akira Toriyama back in a corner of the room. Goku had actually turned over to look at him, and noticed a picture of Piccolo was on one of the papers Vernon had put away.

"That's a good picture of Piccolo. In fact, I noticed our pictures are on quite a few things around here. Who made those?" he had asked.

Vernon turned and replied, "I'm not sure if you'll understand, but in our world, pre-merger, you, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, Radditz and Buu were merely figments of one man's imagination, drawn to life in anime."

"And who was this man?" Goku asked, sitting down cross-legged on his bed.

"His name is Akira Toriyama. Although he has drawn other characters on TV, and in games, you guys are probably his most popular characters, or were at one point. I wonder what he'd say if he actually ran into you now." Vernon had wondered as he spoke up.

"Yeah, makes me wonder just what everyone else is doing now. It's no doubt the worlds are apparently becoming one. I've sensed roughly a billion or more energies since Vegeta and I met Alex."

"That lucky bastard. He got to meet you two out of all eight of us." Vernon grumbled, "I ended up nearly getting killed by a stray fight between Piccolo and #17."

Goku looked on, "Awe cheer up. We're still here at least, and we..." Goku was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Vernon. "Is Kakarott in there yet?" Radditz's voice came up from behind the door.

"I'm in here. Come in!" Goku replied.

Radditz entered, and saw Goku sitting on the bed. "Ah good. Kakarott, do you have any of those sensu beans you use for healing?" Radditz asked.

"Speak of company!" Goku said as he grabbed the pouch on his bedstill and reached into it. _Wait. Maybe I shouldn't give him a full bean. He doesn't look in horrible shape. I might need these for later._

He then managed to find a half-bean he had broke off earlier back, and pulled it out, "Here, I won't give you a full bean since you're only bruised up. I think it'll do fine."

"Whatever I can take." Radditz said, taking the bean and chomping on it quickly, as Vernon looked on. Vernon looked on in amazement as the bruises and cuts on Radditz's body suddenly faded away, and he even saw Radditz' muscles spasm slightly. Goku sensed his older brother's powerlevel as this occurred. It felt to have jumped around 2,500 degrees. He was somewhere around 34,500 now. However he could still sense Radditz was worn out.

Radditz was perplexed, "So those really do work. I'll have to thank Jason for telling me about these sometime." he said as he abruptly left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Jason told him? I hope that wasn't a mistake." Vernon mused.

"Aw come on. I think he can change. He's had 20 or more years to reflect on his fallacies." Goku explained his reasoning.

"I guess that might make sense. By the way, just how old do you Saiya-jin get?" Vernon had been curious.

"Well, Vegeta says we can live roughly 170 years on average, although most Saiya-jin die in battle at some point, so we can't really be so sure." Goku replied.

"Not to mention you and he are the only full bloods left." Vernon commented.

"Pretty much." Goku agreed, and then he heard his stomach rumble. Vernon sweatdropped, also hearing Goku's stomach. However Vernon realized he was hungry himself.

"Oh boy... knowing your stomach, the Rock and Stone Cold are going to have an ulcer when they get the service bill." Vernon joked.

Goku chuckled and picked up the phone on the bedstill next to his sensu pouch. After finding out what he could order from room service, he had order 5 orders of sushi, 10 orders of shiitake, 3 orders of pocky, and 14 orders of ramen. Vernon then took the phone from him and made an order for a couple plates of sushi and ramen himself.

After about 10 minutes, Vernon's food arrived, and then about 10 more minutes later, Goku's full order finally arrived, much to his delight.

Vernon had decided to go shower while Goku chowed down. Besides, knowing how messily he ate, Vernon wasn't really up for watching the Saiya-jin stuff his face.

While he washed off, he thought to himself, _If the rules are different, and we can learn how to fly, I should probably try to get training of my own. For one, I could end up running circles around Alex, Clint and Devin, and two, I could actually become a superhero and get girls._ he thought to himself with a smile.

After cleaning up fully, he had left the room with night clothes on, only to find Goku had sprawled out on the bed, and in the process, he had knocked over his thankfully cleaned out trays onto the floor.

"He's just as sloppy and disorganized as I thought." he said to himself. Although Goku wasn't snoring too loud, and Vernon was actually thankful he had been wrong on that assumption. He went over to the TV, and figured Goku was a deep sleeper, and began to surf channels...

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 1:13pm EST/10:13pm Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku, Room 4)

Alex and #17 had quickly found their room, being so close to the Hotel lobby. #17 however was quite curious about the place, and had mentioned he was going to look around.

Alex grumbled to himself, "This has been one weird day." as he entered his room.

He looked at his bags, and decided he would put them away in one of the corners of his room. He also realized he probably needed to wash off from his encounter in the rift earlier, and soon walked into the bathroom, turning on the bathtub. As he soaked in the water, the events of the day and what of their future weighed heavily in his mind.

"I hope they'll train us soon. I wouldn't mind being able to fly around, shooting ki blasts at things. I could fly circles around that fatty Devin, and also I could humiliate Vernon at track. Hell, maybe I'm even a Saiyan myself. Although that wouldn't make sense. It'd still be cool." Alex yammered to himself, "Man I wish I were able to become an SSJ. I would be able to anything I wanted, and no one could stop me. Hehehe."

Alex chuckled to himself, "I'll have to ask Goku and Vegeta to train me sometime soon." After about 20 minutes of soaking up in the bathroom, Alex had finally come out in his pajamas and other night clothes. However he still hadn't seen sign of #17.

However it wasn't much longer before the cyborg had entered and immediately went into the bathroom to wash up. However he did not go into the showers like Alex, but he had simply washed his face and skin off a little, not really that conscious of it at the time. He soon walked back into the room. He saw Alex had the TV on, and he decided to sit on his bed, and idly look on at what Alex was watching. On the TV appeared to be an episode of the anime Cowboy Bebop. Alex was a little absorbed into the episode to the point he hadn't really noticed #17 was staring at him, until he turned around for a moment, and saw the cyborg looking at him with an odd, but amused stare.

"What's up man?" Alex asked.

"Powerlevel 8.4... you seem slightly below average for someone your age." "What? Isn't that above average?" Alex asked him. "The average powerlevel is usually 10 for your age." #17 stated as if it were common knowledge.

"I always thought 5 was average for an adult." Alex thought to himself.

"Where would you get that idea?" the cyborg asked him.

"The show. According to the scouter, most humans were around 4-6 in powerlevels.2" Alex said.

"Show?" #17 said.

Alex explained, "You, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Radditz and Buu were supposed to be only characters on a anime known as Dragonball Z. Apparently we know it's not so true now, but in this universe you were all thought of by someone named Akira Toriyama." Alex explained.

"That makes little sense to me." #17 replied.

"I know what you mean. This merger has really fucked things up, although I'm all for it if I can get some training." Alex replied.

"I see, so you wish to be like me." #17 mused on.

"Well, I wanna be a saiya-jin to tell the truth, but I'm sure that's not possible." Alex replied with a sad sense of hope.

"Heh, you never know." #17 smirked, as if he had figured something out that Alex hadn't.

"Oh come on, the planet Vegeta was blown up over 40 years ago. I'm only 17 years old. You can't argue with logic like that." Alex said, trying to do what Clint would in this situation, _God Clint you suck at this stuff! I hate how you're all Ben Stein about stuff._

#17 turned his head a little, "Since you know of me, I have to ask, do you know of #16 and #18?"

"Yeah, I know of them. I know #16 was destroyed by Cell, and that #18's also around. Your sister, right?" Alex replied.

"Yes. Somehow though I wonder how her life would go if she had come to live out in the wilderness with me instead of what she's doing now." the cyborg said to himself.

"Yeah, I'll admit, I don't think much of Kuririn being with her, if you know what I mean." Alex replied.

"Riiight." #17 said, as if Alex was supposed to make sense, but he didn't drag it on much further. Alex might have been right for all he knew. He hadn't seen too much of his sister in years, so he couldn't really say Alex was right or wrong.

"So anyways, #17... what do you think of this situation?" Alex asked.

"Honestly, I think it might give me more opportunities to have fun in this 'new' world." #17 admitted.

"You're... not gonna go blowing up people are you?" Alex asked.

"Naw. Killing's not my idea of fun. Not like my other counterpart from that one kid's timeline. From what I heard, it just made me sick he would kill the kind he once belonged to. Same with the other #18. I might be far stronger than a human, but I know I am still partially human inside and on the outside. It's like being a cannibal what they were doing." #17 scowled at the idea of killing.

Alex shrugged, "Fair enough I guess." and then he yawned, "I'm gonna get to sleep. Do what you want. Just try not to keep me awake." Alex asked as he curled up under his sheets, trying to sleep.

#17 decided he would probably just recharge a little and sleep himself, since he was concerned about making too much a ruckus by leaving the room for the moment.

(August 29, 2001 A.D.; 11:30pm EST/8:30am Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Konouenai Shinshoku)

Later that morning, the 18 Misfits had gathered up in the lobby of the Hotel, many of the originals carrying their luggage and other baggage. The Rock and Stone Cold had bought some extra clothing in the shop near the lobby. However they were still a bit annoyed at Goku and Buu when they discovered the room service bill of 12,533 yen(about 132 dollars). Goku admitted he had been the biggest culprit, and Buu had only been charged around a total of 4200 of the yen(about $43.45). Vegeta had scoffed at Goku for his piggish eating habits, however the two wrestlers told them they were lucky they had brought plenty of money from their account overseas.

As they all finished their arguing, Dwayne asked, "So now what exactly?" Clint thought to himself, realizing that more than likely their vacation was already gonna be ruined due to the rift, and that the earthquake had done some damage to other parts of Tokyo.

"Who thinks we should just cut our losses and return home?" he asked.

The opinions among the other 7 of the original group were slightly mixed. Alex was a little disappointed. Vernon didn't care so much. Devin was also a bit disappointed. Dan and Dusty were all with the idea to return home, saying that the merger more than made up for what was probably ruined. Alex then suddenly changed his vote towards going home, and Nina didn't really care either. She only dreaded the fact that things were going to get more complicated when they got home to Canton.

After asking the other 10, The Rock and Stone Cold were eager to at least get back to their home country. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Heero, Radditz, Paula and #17 were indifferent, since they were only end up tagging along in this case anyways. Buu asked about the food in America, and he sounded interested when the others had explained to him. The majority vote was that the group would return to Canton.

However this brought up another issue, "How will we get everyone else back home? I don't think The Rock and Stone Cold could pay for tickets for the other 10 of them. We still have free airfare home because of the contest, but it doesn't help any of them." Dan brought it up.

Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Radditz, Buu and #17 whispered a bit among themselves, and Goku spoke up, "I think most of us can just fly behind your plane, and follow you that way. Piccolo says he'll probably meditate on the plane itself though, and we can use him as a beacon to track you since most of your ki signals aren't very high."

"I think I can just flying along with you all the same." Paula replied, "Kintoun is easily faster than any normal aircraft."

"Yeah, that's fine and all, but Heero, The Rock and Stone Cold still have no alternative way to get back." Dusty mentioned.

Paula then pulled two dollar bills out of the handbag attacked to her dress-belt, both being worth 5000 American dollars. She gave each bill to one of the two wrestlers, "That should help pay for the tickets for you three."

"Woah! Where'd you get American money?" asked Clint, curious about this, wondering if it might help support his theory about her.

"I'll tell you all another time." she replied.

"Alright... Then I guess we outta get back to the airport and explain what's going on to all of them." Clint said, as he began to lead the group of 18 out of the hotel.

As they entered the outside, Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, Buu, Radditz and #17 used their energy to float along with them, and Paula called out for Kintoun and hopped on, and floated along with them all the same, as they headed off to the Shibuya Station, which would probably have a subway train ready to take them to the airport...

(August 30, 2001 A.D.; 12:05am EST/9:05am Tokyo Standard Time; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo, Japan: Shibuya Hikoujou)

After arriving at the Shibuya Hikoujou, Clint immediately took his 17 comrades over to the nearest service counter. He showed the counter lady the passes for him, Nina, Alex, Dusty, Devin, Dan, Vernon and Jason. He also explained that Heero, The Rock and Stone Cold were returning with them on their plane whenever room came. The lady looked up their flight, and asked if they wanted the other three to be in first class. The other three decided that they should, in order to find more time to interact with their to-be allies.

The lady then looked to Goku, Vegeta, Buu, Radditz, #17, Piccolo and Paula and asked about them. They told her they were merely here to see them all off. Although she was a little freaked out at the sight of Buu and Piccolo. She, and more than likely many others on Earth were going to find it a huge surprise when they learned the full truth of the consequences of the merger. It was then Goku and Vegeta, and even Clint had realized that they would need to find a way to explain to the world, both what they were familiar with, and the parts that were brand new to them, that things had taken a very sudden change.

It would only be about 25 minutes before their plane finally arrive. Piccolo looked back at the other 7 who were planning to fly via their own methods. Nina almost regretted not be able to fly along with them, but she didn't care to waste her energy since her ride was free. They watched as Clint, then Dusty, then Vernon, then Heero, then The Rock, then Stone Cold, then Alex, then Devin, then Dan, and then finally Nina had boarded the plane. Piccolo nodded to his other 7 companions to head outside, and to tune their senses on him, and told those who could not sense energy yet, such as Paula, Buu and Radditz, to just follow behind Goku, Vegeta, #17 and himself. The other six waited outside, while Piccolo kept his eye on their plane, also using his senses to keep locked on Nina's high powerlevel, being his own anchor in case the planes got jumbled up.

Soon, their plane took off, and Piccolo suddenly did a 'zanzoken', or afterimage, and had jumped over the airport gate faster than any of the bystanders could indicate, and flew up to the plane as it began to lift in altitude. He then landed on the plane softly, and decided the best place to stand was right above the cockpit. He walked over and then began to meditate, sending a psychic call to Goku, and even Paula that it was time for them to follow, which they all promptly did. Although they were all able to easily catch up and floated alongside the plane, they realized that it was going to be a slow trip back, and Radditz was honestly wondering if he could waste that much energy. He decided to take his chances and landed on top of the plane and just sat on it, although keeping alert in case he needed to take off into the air again...

(August 30, 2001 A.D.; 1:30am EST, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Japan and California)

In the first class seats, it had become a little bit interesting, to say the least. Most of the people heading on their flight had recognized The Rock and Stone Cold. This had lead to several people going up and asking them for autographs. Although neither wrestler minded doing this for their fans, they could only wonder what ramifications could come of all of this. Clint looked on and wore his headphones again, listening to something none of us are able to figure out. Devin too was again wearing his own head phones, listening to a band of recent popularity known as Linkin Park. Dusty was again talking to Dan, and also The Rock and Stone Cold.

Apparently during the last hour and a half, the two wrestlers had made the decision that instead of going back to Vegas, that they were going to go back to Canton with Dusty and since he was a fan of the WWE, they were both going to try to personally teach him some moves, and they were also talking something about arranging a show somewhere in Ohio. Nina was looking out the window, where she would occasionally get a glimpse of Goku or Vegeta flying along near the back of the plane. The sky was slowly going dark outside, telling her they were already about half way back to California. As for Vernon and Alex?

Vernon was again, perving on the flight attendants, although he was trying to keep it concealed from Nina. Alex had started talking to Jason and trying to convince him that becoming a fighter would be the main thing to do when they got home. Jason, having been around Radditz the other night, and been slowly swayed to agree. Vernon had overheard this, but apparently he didn't let this bother him.

Piccolo had still been meditating on the top of the cockpit. However he would also take an occasion look out over the ocean below, trying to get a personal understanding of the world's new geography. He was a little taken back by how much had changed, but he kept it in stride for the moment. Goku, Vegeta, Buu, Paula, #17 and Radditz also continued to fly along with the plane. Paula had almost fallen asleep on Kintoun, which had been following the plane on a type of auto-pilot, knowing Goku was around in some odd and twisted way.

#17 had decided at one point to sit on the plane wing, but when he got a couple of people looking at him with shocked expressions, he quickly decided to just fly normal again. The people who had seen him had managed to convince themselves it was just their imaginations he had been there. Buu also took his example, wanting to stop flying as well, but #17 had him sit on top of the plane for a while. Although the plane had a slight bit of turbulence when that happened, they plane remained otherwise fine, as it continued to fly on towards the Los Angeles airport...

(August 30, 2001 A.D.; 3:20am EST, Los Angeles Airport)

After a rather eventful landing where Piccolo had jumped forward upon landing and shocked the shit out of the captain and co-captain, the 18 Misfits had regrouped inside the Los Angeles Airport Terminal. Clint had realized they had forgotten to tell some of them that they weren't home just yet, and that they had to board a second plane to actually get back to their home in Canton, Ohio. Piccolo grumbled at this, and Vegeta and Radditz looked visibly irked. #17 didn't really care, and Buu looked unaffected. Paula was also annoyed, but knew she could still follow them in Kintoun if she needed. However realizing how dark it was, she then decided that she probably should get most of the others seats on the next plane.

Another 5000 dollars had been procured, and after some talking with the service manager, they had managed to get tickets for all 18 passengers, although due to the complications, they would have to put some of them in Coach, including Goku and Vegeta. Radditz and Piccolo too were going to have to sit right across from them. By some kind of miracle of fate, Buu still managed to weasel into first class with the other 13 of the remaining Misfits. It would be around another 40 to 50 minutes before their next plane bound for Akron would be ready to take off. They had all taken some time to look around the terminal, including to get some food to prepare themselves for the final trip back home, and soon their plane finally arrived. The 18 Misfits, all gave their tickets to the gate attendant, and they all checked clean for searching, and they boarded their plane, and it soon was up and into the air.

(August 30, 2001 A.D.; 5:42am EST, somewhere over southern Illinois)

After take off, another 2 hours and 20 minutes had passed, before the plane was now flying over the southern-most section of Illinois, only two stats away most of the Misfits' home state of Ohio. Although some rain and clouds had caused turbulence around the area, the plane was able to keep relatively stable. Inside the plane, Goku and Vegeta had been paired up in a set of seats in coach, much to Vegeta's annoyance. Goku might have been his ally, but he was never comfortable with just sitting next to him for so long at a time. He'd have preferred to fly, and he was betting himself Goku was thinking similar thoughts about wanting to fly. Across the row from them were Piccolo and Radditz, an even more unstable pair of seat-buddies due to their past conflicts.

Goku looked over at the two of them with a hidden smile of amusement. The two of them weren't talking too much. Radditz had found a magazine in the compartment on the back of the seat in front of him and was looking over it in boredom. Piccolo had his eyes closed, trying to sleep, but he wasn't able to get much sitting in his position, or with the minor shaking of the plane. Sometimes he would furrow his eyes over at Radditz, never noticed by the older Saiya-jin, and grumble to himself about being stuck on the plane. Goku had noticed Vegeta grumbling similar. And once in a while, he'd see Piccolo and Vegeta glance at each other and try to stare each other down across the aisle. Sometimes one or the other would burst out laughing at the other, making other passengers a little restless.

In the back, in the first class seats, Clint and Devin were sleeping against their seats with their headphones on yet again. Jason and Alex had joined them as well, having brought their own headphones. Alex was listening to the band Slipknot, and Jason was listening to Metallica. Vernon was still looking around the room, trying to perv on an attendant or two, but he didn't seem to be so interested in the ones he saw this time. Nina had noticed him doing it this time, with Paula sitting right behind her, but neither girl appeared to really care at the moment, making up for the lack of communication with each other the other night. Heero was talking with #17, and the two of them were talking about driving, and how it got #17 going in the morning.

Heero was explaining to #17 about how he had been a Gundam pilot before the merger had began, and also explaining about him and Dan. Again, Dusty and Dan were talking with The Rock and Stone Cold over wrestling, and the first two had also finally learned more about The Rock's wife and newborn daughter. The two wrestlers had also mentioned of the strange phone problems they had encountered back at the hotel in Japan. Buu sat at the front-most seat, enjoying the plane's food, much to the amusement of Dusty and Vernon. They continued on their own agendas for the time being...

However outside, the clouds were beginning to darken more intensely. Thunder was rumbling more erratically, and rain was pouring on the plane all around. The winds had also began to pick up. Back inside the plane, one strange boy of around 17 years old, with a strange pair of orange eyes had gotten out of his seat, and walked back to the bathroom, closing it behind him. He took a strange looking bundle out of his pocket. He looked as if he had to time this just right. If he could take the plane down here and now, he would get those idiots out of his way. These Misfits, and perhaps knock the wind out of the stronger ones. He might take out many others in the process, but he didn't really care about that. His master had promised him great power in death if he succeeded.

He looked at his bundle of TNT, and apparently he had been planning to take out hull of the plane, to attempt to blow it apart. He didn't care if he was caught. He would do it one why or the other. He put it down on the sink, and prepared to lit a fuse to arm the bomb, when the plane had suddenly shook violently, and he was thrown backwards, smashing into the wall behind him. The bundle of TNT had been shaken so much, that it fell off into the toilet, and the fuse was melted away. The boy got back up, and tried to grab for the stick, however the plane rocked violently again, causing his hand to smash into the handle of the toilet, causing it to flush the TNT out of the plane through the suction shaft on the toilet.

He looked at the site in total shock. _SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT! STUPID TOILET!_ he growled to himself. After thinking to himself for a couple of minutes, he groaned to himself. He quickly left the bathroom, and walked back to his seat. No one had any real idea this boy had almost caused their plane to crash, but Mother Nature had won out, as that close strike of thunder had done enough to cause the plane to shake violently those couple of minutes ago.

The boy thought to himself. _Oh well, I'll have time some other day to get rid of them. It's not like they'll get too powerful anyways. What could really go wrong?_ he grumbled to himself, as the plane continued to soar along the skies, it's date with doom averted.

(August 30, 2001 A.D.; 7:05am EST, Akron-Canton Airport)

After another hour, the plane would finally come to its' final stop at Akron-Canton National Airport. Clint, Alex, Devin, Jason, Vernon, Dusty and Dan all cheered to themselves, finally having gotten home.

Nina sighed to herself, _Well, back to the senseless bickering, back to Canton South, and back to 'Jackass'_3

The de-boarding procedure was called, and the 8 friends, and their 10 new allies soon were able to get off the plane, and on Akron grounds. As they entered the terminal, Dan told Goku and the other 9 new Misfits that they were not too far from their hometown of Canton, which was only about half a mile to the south.

It was at that point they all began to realize, "Just where are you all going to stay at anyways?" Clint asked.

"I'm going to ask my parents about having Steve and Dwayne stay with us for now." Dusty replied, answering that part of the question.

"Don't worry about me. I'll stay in touch with Dan and follow him back to where he comes from. Maybe something will pop up for me there." Heero replied.

Goku and Vegeta looked to Alex, "Boy, do you know of any places to stay. I'm sure we can come up with some way to pay them." Vegeta has asked Alex.

"Well, I need to talk to my dad, but I think he can rig you two up something." Alex replied, "If it works out, it'll be so sweet because we'll be neighbors!" he smirked.

"I can hardly wait..." Vegeta said with half-sarcasm, although Goku didn't seem to mind this at all.

Vernon had looked over to #17 and Piccolo, "Why don't you come home with me, and maybe we can get you some accommodations."

"I don't see why your parents would just allow that." Piccolo replied.

"Trust me, I can convince them if I need to. I have my ways." Vernon smirked back, which unsettled the Namekian slightly.

"I can probably find a house in the city. I can just call you guys when I find one." Paula had replied to the question.

Buu replied by saying that he would find somewhere close to Devin's neck of the woods. Alex revealed that Devin didn't live too far from him, so he, Buu, Devin, Goku and Vegeta would likely be close to each other.

"Radditz, you can rent out my basement if you want." Nina offered, knowing he had no money, and no idea of how it worked on Earth.

Radditz scowled, "Bleh, how amusing." he said to himself.

Dusty and Dan snickered at him for that comment, and Jason realized that he had no one to bring to his neck of the woods, and pouted a little, although that had led to Alex taunting him about stealing again, which made Jason growl at him and smack him over the head.

After a few minutes, Clint had contacted his parents to come to the airport and pick him up, followed by Alex doing similar, and also telling them about Goku and Vegeta. Devin then called his mom, and asked her for a similar ride home. Dusty, Heero, Dan, The Rock and Stone Cold ended up taking a taxi back to their homes, while Vernon and Jason also would phone to their parents for pickup. Soon enough, all of them had finally managed to leave the airport.

However even as they had all finally headed off to return to their homes for a much needed rest and explanation time, the strange boy on the plane had been watching them the entire time. He had been thinking of ways he could wipe out Clint, Alex, Jason, Dan, Dusty, Nina, Vernon and Devin all in one fell stroke. Soon, a malicious idea popped to mind, and he soon walked behind a clear alcove. However it would not be a boy of 17 who emerged from the alcove, but an semi-elderly-looking woman of 59 years old. However her strange orange eyes never changed from the eyes she had used in her other form.

_Yes, that's a splendid idea. It'll go great with my master's plans, and it can show to this world just what we're capable of!_ she thought to herself as she walked off outside of the airport, and her silhouette walked off into the darkness, unseen by all...

Whatever you would make of it, a new era was beginning, and whether you want to participate in it or not, that will not stop it from coming. For the Misfits are about to emerge from their collective cocoons... As the greatest of all heroes to ever live...

* * *

Footnotes:

** 1** **Makankosoppo** "Demonic Penetrating-Light Death-Cannon" aka "Special Beam Cannon" for you hopeless dubbies :P

**2**Some versions of the Dragonball series say that 5 is the average human's powerlevel. However in Misfits, 10 is average for a human of around 17-19 years old.

** 3** **"Jackass"** is a nickname for a non-villain antagonist that is seen in later parts every once in a while. Nina is no fan of him. :P 


	4. Part 3: A Long Road Begins at Last!

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
-----------------------------

**Part 3 - A Long Road Begins at Last**

(September 2, 2001 A.D.; 11:34am EST; Canton, Ohio)

It was odd to say the least that Goku and Vegeta had decided to move into the house they picked. It was also odd that they were the only ones living there, however their accommodations were Alex's own responsibility, his dad owning the house, and the two Saiya-jin had been renting it out for the time being. They had been somewhat confused to why they, as well as Piccolo, #17 and Buu had been the only ones of their own group to have arrived in this strange situation. Goku tried to sense out a few times for his family, including his wife Chichi, his sons Goten and Gohan, his daughter-in-law Videl, and his granddaughter Pan, but to no avail, it was as if they had truly crossed worlds, instead of them merging as one, as Goku himself had figured out.

Vegeta was as perplexed. He couldn't sense Bulma, Trunks, Mirai or Bra on his end of ki-sensing, just as Goku, and was a bit worried to what might happen. However, worry of enemy attack wasn't a main problem. Buu was the last major problem, and that had been over 10 years ago. Also, Vegeta felt it ironic that only weeks after the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, that all of this would happen. Vegeta was starting to get a bit nervous about all of it.

And what about Radditz? Goku and Vegeta were just a bit shaky on the subject of him. Sure he seemed to be more or less good-natured after his trip back from Hell with Nina, and it had been 20 years since he came back, however they had their concerns about him. While he wasn't too strong yet, he could easily kill a lot of their new friends if he turned on them. Also, what of these other people? They called themselves "The Misfits" or something. For the most power, a group of weak teenage high-schoolers, with only one exception, that strange winged-girl, and even then, they knew her origins were not the same as the other 7.

Vegeta had a strange nagging feeling about the one called Alex, since he acted in ways a lot like Vegeta in his older days. Something told him that he and Kakarott would have to do something to both improve these fools, as well as keep THEM from getting bored to tears. There were no training devices of ANY kind within miles, apparently. Having Alex living next door helped a bit with understanding a bit about the world around them, but they had only been in this new world for a bit over 3 or 4 days now.

Also, what about the other part of the bunch? Specifically, Vegeta had referred to Heero, The Rock, Stone Cold and Paula. These four were in a way wildcards in the whole bunch of new acquaintances. The Rock and Stone Cold were native to the same version of Earth as Alex's part of the Misfits, except they were apparently much stronger than the common human, at least 3-4 times, by his ki-sensing standards. Still weak compared to him and Kakarott, but greater than what most humans on the world were expected to reach. Heero was also strange. His powerlevel was higher than the average human, around that of the two previously mentioned wrestlers. He was also a moody individual, and he tended to get very paranoid too fast.

The main thing that confused him was that like Nina, he was not from either Alex or Vegeta's versions of Earthbefore the merger. And finally, Paula was to Vegeta, a major question mark. Somehow, she and Kakarott had met in past times, and even Piccolo had some knowledge of her. From the vague mentions Goku gave to Vegeta, it seemed they had met in childhood, some time after he had met Bulma and was on his first dragonball hunt, but not much else was divulged. From the gauge of her powerlevel, she was almost as strong as the winged girl with Alex's part of the group, except that she wasn't quite as irritable as the other girl seemed to be.

Goku was curious about something though. _We have all of these people running around, acting like we're some phenomenon to them. Many of the weaker ones seem to almost... worship us, and that Alex boy reminds me a bit of Vegeta for one. Maybe we're here for a reason, as that voice Dusty spoke of mentioned. It must want us here, and needs our help. Its' words about a higher power make me wonder what life is trying to tell us. You know... it's a great idea. I've been dying to teach someone for 10 years or more! I think we should try to train all of these guys, and make them better off for it. I'm sure with all that's happened, and the fact they seem to be aware of our powers, that eventually at least one of them will ask us anyways._

Goku walked downstairs and found Vegeta at one of the tables in their new house, watching televisionsince living with Bulma had gave him a small addiction to it, as well as his bone to know what's going on in the world, and eating apparently a type of cereal he had never seen before. "Cookie Crisp" apparently, as it said on the box.

"Hey Vegeta, you got a minute?" Goku asked, but Vegeta put his hand out in an open palm, indicating he was looking at something interesting on TV.

Goku decided to take a look himself, looking at it. What he saw made his jaw almost fall to the floor. The TV was on a channel called "Cartoon Network", and on screen was apparently a commercial of sorts, but it was the content that got his and Vegeta's attention. Goku saw scenes of himself, Vegeta, and even Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo flashing around on screen, apparently for a show of sorts called "Dragonball Z".

When the commercial lifted, Vegeta turned to Goku, with a look of both shock and amusement, part of that amusement at Goku's hanging jaw, "Kakarott, put your mouth back in place. I know it's strange, but it's nothing to get worked up about now. I think I understand where those brats Alex and Vernon tend to know us from now."

"Yes, you see that's kinda what I wanted to talk about Vegeta. These people seem to know us quite well, and they see us as some act of Kami or something, since we seemed to be once imaginary to them. I also got a strange feeling. I think it's time we go back to our old guns." Goku replied.

Vegeta forced back a smirk, knowing Goku referred to training, the reason for forcing back the smirk was curiosity, "Exactly why do you want to train these baboons, Kakarott?"

"Well, you know how I was when I've trained Gohan, and later Goten to their limits of my knowledge, and Pan's not fully grown yet for the full training course. I tend to go into a slight training withdrawal. I know YOU had Mirai and Bra to keep you from the same problems as me, but now that we're here, we don't have them to train. So I suggest an alternative. Besides, maybe they'll have more application for us if we do."

Vegeta let his smirk show now, "You're becoming a bit more Saiya-jin every day, you know right Kakarott? Very well, but how do we retrieve all of them?"

(September 2, 2001 A.D.; 12:16pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

It has taken about 40 minutes, but with a bit of help from Alex, who himself was easily excited at the prospect of some training, Goku and Vegeta had been able to retrieve a large part of their other new acquaintances. Soon, Alex, Clint, Jason, Nina, The Rock, Dusty, Stone Cold, Dan, Vernon, #17, Piccolo, Mr. Buu, Paula, Heero, Radditz, and Devin had finally gathered up. Piccolo had gone over and joined up with Goku and Vegeta, already knowing what was to come from this. He had also asked Mr. Buu and #17 to come to the sidelines. The first parts of this were not going to be required for them to go through.

"So what exactly did they gather us all up for anyways?" asked Jason to Alex.

"I think they're gonna finally start training us! Just think, soon we'll be running around, saving people and being heroes ourselves! We'll finally get to do what we only once dreamed." the smaller of the two replied.

"Yeah, but remember this, I'll be the bigger hero than you." Vernon replied to their conversation by boasting to Alex.

"Hah! Vernon, you're just jealous that I'll be the one who benefits best from this." Alex replied in annoyance, _And I'll prove it too by beating the hell out of you after all of this passes!_

"Just remember this: Who's your daddy Alex? Who's your daddy?" Vernon replied with a smirk.

"Uh, he lives over there," Alex pointed to his house, "inside MY house, and not in front of me like you... Ah! Damn you Vernon!" Alex replied as he turned back to Vernon to see him doing what he called the circle, a method Vernon had of annoying people by making them look at a circular shape with his fingers.

The result was Vernon gave the victim 5 light punches in the shoulder. ** POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!** Alex grumbled, clutching his sore shoulder.

"Trust me Vernon, you'll get yours for that stunt soon enough!" Alex grumbled venomously.

One the other hand, Dusty, the Rock and Stone Cold were quickly attracted to the idea of training. The three of them recalled the strange voice that had told them to band together and to grow stronger, and when all three of them had heard the news about Goku and Vegeta's training session, they had bolted off to the nearest bus and offered $20 just for them to put their foot down and get to Gambrinus Ave quickly, where Alex lived, and were also Goku and Vegeta were staying for the time being.

Clint had primarily came to see if they were going to teach flying as well. That was the main reason he had decided to come, but then the others began to mention of the other dreams they had using their powers, and he decided to go further than that. He figured maybe he too was supposed to become strong.

The first part of the entire training regimen was simple enough. The three teachers decided to go into detail about Ki, or spiritual energy, even though a good number of the others already understood that much. After all the boring jabber was done, Goku had begun demonstrating to the lot of them of how to tap into their own ki, that it was like a cauldron of power in the soul that you had to connect yourself to. At first, only Heero, The Rock and Paula had been able to tap into this power within the first minutes of his.

However, as time passed, eventually Devin, Stone Cold, Vernon, Jason, Alex, Dusty and Dan had finally been able to figure it out, as the small flame of ki energy between their own hands had demonstrated. For the next two hours, they mainly went to work trying to keep hold over the energy for as long as possible, trying to get the weaker Misfits more linked permanently to their latent kis.

(September 2, 2001 A.D.; 3:30pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Goku and Vegeta were actually to say the least, impressed by this show of determination of the part of the other Misfits. Now they believed it was time to go another step forward.

"Alright, it's time we taught you then next level. We are going to teach you the art of Bukujutsu, or in your more local tongue, flight with ki energy." Goku explained.

Needless to say, even the more drained of the Misfits, including Jason and Dan, easily perked up at the chance to learn how to fly. Clint was also just as eager, as Goku began to explain to the process of using ki to propel a downward thrust to life the user into the air. It took about 10 minutes before some people started to get the hang of it. Paula had been one of the fast learners, since she had apparently remember this ability from her ordeal helping Goku fight Piccolo Damiaou, and had helped her speed up the learning process. Nina was also doing better due to her own natural flight abilities, and understood how the down thrust lifted her into the air. Also, Heero again was a fast learner, now flying around at 30 MPH around the area. However he had been so enraptured with this he had failed to notice the tree in front of him, as he smacked right into it, and falling to the ground, dazed and almost unconscious from both the ki drain and impact.

Alex had cringed when he saw Heero hit the tree, but not at Heero, but the large crack that had formed in the tree upon impact. "Well, that tree's gonna need clearing soon." he stated to himself, however he wasn't so interested in it, as he himself had just recently began lifting himself off the ground.

Strangely, he decided to take this slowly, as to not screw up and crash like Heero did. After another 4 minutes, Alex was flying loops around the dazed Heero, snickering at him. Heero grumbled at him, and got up, walking back over to most of the others, who had by then had been floating around, trying to keep hold over their latent powers and keep from falling. Dan was one of the unluckier ones, almost crashing 3 different times due to different breaks in his concentration.

After a total of another hour, all of the Misfits had finally gotten near-mastery over their movements. However a few of them fell out of the sky after so long, their Ki having ran out. However, many of them decided that they would go back and fly around with their new powers, not even realizing that Goku and Vegeta had tended to train them further.

"Wait! Guys, where're you all going!" Goku called in disbelief at many of the fleeing Misfits.

"Imbeciles! We teach flight to them and they get all giddy with it and run off like the wind!" Vegeta grumbled in reply.

"Well, you still have us over here." Alex replied, still present, partially because he was right about in his own backyard already, and the other because he had heard the two Saiya-jin mentioning they had more to teach, "Not our fault Jason and them are morons and ran off!"

Goku and Vegeta noticed that Alex, Devin, Heero, Radditz, and Paula had still remained behind, and had more sense then to run off early on.

"Very well. You five will now be taught how to sense ki signatures. Now pay close attention, because it may be a bit more difficult than you think..." Goku trailed off.

(September 2, 2001 A.D.; 5:10pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

After another hour and a half Alex, Devin, Heero, Radditz and Paula had finally mastered the full art of sensing Ki, and had just completed their basic class on masking ki. Goku and Vegeta were specifically impressed with those five. Too bad Piccolo, #17, and Mr. Buu had decided to leave, saying they'd let the two saviors of the universe handle the rest of the training.

"So, now at least we can tell where the other dumbasses flew off to, and they have no clue." Devin smirked.

Alex looked at him suspiciously, _Devin... what the hell are you up to?_

Heero yawned, which was understandable considering how much energy he had used up that day. "If you five don't mind, I'm heading off." he said to them, as he got into the new car he had got a couple of days ago, and drove off, apparently back towards home.

Devin looked over to the rest of them, "I'll head off as well. Talk to you all later. I got rest to get, and training to do of my own. I'm going to make good use of this." Devin lifted into the air a few feet above the ground, and flew off slowly towards his own home to the west, still having some energy left.

Radditz also looked over, and said, "Hey Vegeta, little brother. I know you're still a little worried about me, but now that I understand how to sense and mask ki, I can definitely tell there's no point in doing anything dumb. You'd pick me off in a heartbeat. So I'm just gonna say thanks, and I'll go for now." he said, and then lifted up into the air.

He began to fly off, when Goku called. "Radditz! Wait a sec." the older brother turned to the younger, and Goku continued, "Do your best to train hard. I'm sure you'll want to become a Super Saiya-jin soon. Just know this. You'll need to at least have a powerlevel of 200,000, and a great deal of anger at loss to attain it. Good luck."

Radditz nodded, "Thanks Kakarott, and you too Vegeta..." and he continued to float off into the distance, disappearing quickly.

Paula looked at them, "Hey thanks for the training Goku. I was always wanting to figure out how Tenshinhan and Chaozu trained to fly, but I had to leave before I could. Also, you two," She looked to Alex and Vegeta, "Make sure you watch him well for me when I'm not around. He can be quite the naive one at times, and I'm sure this new world will confuse him even more than before." she said with a smile of mischievousness, as she lifted off into the air and blasted off at high speeds, still having plenty of ki energy due to her higher powerlevel lessening the drain.

Goku looked towards her shrinking form with a pout on his face, "Hey, no fair! I've gotten better at that! I'm not a country boy anymore!"

Vegeta laughed heartily, "Oh Kakarott, that was rich! You have got to explain your connection with her more later on! Hahaha!"

Goku grumbled to himself, "Yeah, I will... someday." he then turned to Alex, "So, aren't you going to go to bed as well?"

Alex looked back, "I am, but... I want to make a personal request. I know you two have lots of stuff to do..." _Yeah, right._ he then afterthought, "But I want to train more as well... and well, considering you two live right nex..."

Vegeta interrupted him mid-sentence, "You want me and Kakarott to train YOU? HAHAHA! That's a good one!"

"I'm serious Vegeta! I mean it! I've always lived for his kind of thing. It's a big dream of mine to learn how to fight like a Saiya-jin. I do admire them, you know. I'm sure you two realize that by now." Alex replied.

Goku rubbed his chin, "You know, I'm sure you realize the hardships you'll endure through this. You've probably watched us train before on your little Dragonball Z show, so it's honestly up to you."

Alex smirked at Goku's mentioning of DBZ, "So, you finally got to see that, I take it."

"Just a commercial, brat. But are you sure you're ready to get beat up a lot, and suffer lots of pain?" Vegeta said half-jokingly.

"Yes, Vegeta! I'm not Vernon. I don't just weasel on by to get where I want. I also love pain! I'm a fuckin' masochist for crying out loud!"

"Very well Alex. You will meet with us tomorrow morning at 5:30am in your time. If you wish to train like a Saiya-jin, you must also learn how to wake up fast like one. At 5:40am you will start your training session. It will not be easy, and we will not accept simpering puppies. If you can last for a full week with us, then you might yet have potential for some things." Vegeta replied sternly.

"Fine, yeah yeah, I know the routine Vegeta..." Alex replied.

"Now you should probably get rested up within the next couple of hours, since you will be getting up very early tomorrow morning." Goku suggested.

"Yeah... yeah I'm going. I'll see you two clowns tomorrow." Alex replied in a joking tone, as he walked back into his house.

Vegeta gave Goku a small jab to the ribs to get his direct attention, "You ever notice he acts quite a bit like a Saiya-jin, Kakarott?"

"You know Vegeta, I kinda have now that you mentioned it. Makes me wonder if he IS a Saiya-jin." Goku had began to wondered to himself at Vegeta's declaration.

"Impossible. Vegeta-sei was destroyed by Frieza over 30 years ago, as you know, and only you, me and Radditz are the surviving full bloods. Besides, he lived once in a world where stuff like Saiya-jin didn't exist. It's not possible he could be one, even IF Vegeta-sei WAS intact still." Vegeta argued with his logic of the past.

"I see what you mean." Goku agreed with his ally, as they began to walk back over to their house, "Hey Vegeta, since we still have time before we need to rest, how about I introduce you to this one thing Alex showed me the other day. He let me borrow it for the time being." Goku trailed off as he and Vegeta closed their door behind them.

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**None for this part :P**


	5. Part 4: Training Until Our Heads Fall Of

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
-----------------------------

**Part 4 - Training Until Our Heads Fall Off**

(September 3, 2001 A.D.; 10:34am EST; Canton, Ohio)

Ironically enough, Alex would not be the only one who had decided to train more rigorously. After Piccolo and #17 and returned from the training session, Vernon had basically asked the both of them to give him similar training as Goku and Vegeta. However, neither of the three were aware of Goku and Vegeta training Alex yet, and with that, the two rivals had unknowingly set themselves off into another battle for supremacy. Vernon had started to lift large weights, while wearing a smaller form of Piccolo's own training clothes.

#17 had pitched in by also sparring with Vernon once every 4 hours, while not doing much to give Vernon easy goings, allowed Vernon to grow stronger both from the recovery and from the fighting itself. Piccolo could now sense he was about 15-20 times stronger than when they first met, and easily surpassed Heero's original powerlevel from when Piccolo first encountered him. Although Piccolo thought back to his bet with Dan, and he was finding himself a bit surprised with Vernon's jump in power. Piccolo began to wonder if maybe the rules really had destroyed human power restrictions as he watched on.

(September 3, 2001 A.D.; 4:09pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Back at his own house, Dusty and Dan had been doing additional training with The Rock and Stone Cold. All four had realized that now with the ability to manipulate ki, that they had might as well go the full distance and become full blown fighters in the way both Vernon and Alex had planned, especially since Dusty, Steve and Dwayne had all heard that mysterious voice. The four of them were buffed up in heavy training weights that fit around the arms, legs, waist, neck and other places. The Rock's in particular looked quite bulky.

"Rock, you look like a Golem in those things." Steve replied, as he lifted weights in excess of 890 lbs.

Dusty was lifting about 430 lbs. at this point, Dan was lifting around 360 lbs, and the Rock was about even with Stone Cold, lifting about 890 lbs as well. With their 560 lbs handicap in weights on the body, it was giving them quite a boost. Dusty only had about 260 lbs on him, but with the extra 430 lbs, it was also helping. Dan had been wearing about 225 lbs on him also in addition to his 360 lbs he was lifting. By the end of the day, they would be almost 10 times their original strength.

(September 3, 2001 A.D.; 7:21pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Back at his house, Alex was also being trained to lift weights, and Goku had also found some of his old weighted clothing in one of his spare capsules, and gave it to Alex, and tell him to run several miles around the house, until he had calculated about 10 miles. Goku had noticed during this that while Alex didn't complain or try to give up, that he didn't seem to run as fast around the house as he had been expecting.

"Vegeta, something's strange about his speed. It seems... to be lacking somehow." Goku told his friend.

"I believe it has to do with the fact that only months before this, the kid was in worse physical shape than we realized. He was primarily running around in a wheelchair1, despite the fact he could walk, but he still had a hard time getting around, and his legs still have not yet gotten use to the fact. Hopefully it is just a phase." Vegeta replied.

Alex soon had completed his run, and Goku and Vegeta were a bit impressed. Alex had grown about 15 times in power already, and had been stronger than the Rock and Stone Cold when they had first sensed them.

(September 4, 2001 A.D.; 11:25am EST; Canton, Ohio)

Near his own trailer, Devin had decided to start his own training, having the same ideas as Alex, Vernon, Dusty, Dan, the Rock and Stone Cold had. He had made his way over to a clearing where he had asked Radditz to give him some starting pointers. Radditz, having really nothing else to do, and wanting to also get back into the old habit of training, decided to go and do this. Maybe he'd get Goku and Vegeta to trust him just a bit more if he did. Basically, Radditz had given Devin a spare crafted suit of weighted Saiya-jin armor, that would act somewhat like Piccolo and Goku's methods. It wouldn't be as effective as theirs, but still, it was a boost.

Radditz had made Devin pull rocks out of the ground, starting with small boulders, and then having him pick up larger rocks, and then making him run around with them on his back. After about 10 hours of this, Devin would grow about 10-15 times stronger than he was before. Also, Radditz had given him bonus training, and had taught him his "Eyes on the Birdie" attack, which he had found to his dismay was called "Saturday Crush" by Devin and the many other friends of his. When he asked Devin why so, Devin had taken Radditz to his own house, and showed him a video game called "Dragonball Z: Budokai".

Radditz was a little shocked to see himself, Vegeta, Goku, Piccolo, and other acquaintances in this game. He was not as aware of the DBZ franchise as Goku and Vegeta were. Due to this, Devin had to explain to him more about so, and after this, Radditz began to gain a slightly better understanding of the world around him, and then he headed back to his own home with Nina for the moment, having no where else to go at the time.

(September 4, 2001 A.D.; 5:16pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Back at Alex's house, further training had commenced. After a lot of the weights and running around in the day had been accomplished, Vegeta had started showing Alex how to actually fire his ki as energy. Alex had been able to fire short, weak blasts that left scorches in the ground, but nothing that was enough to melt it or make a hole just yet.

"Come on, boy! You need to start learning how to charge your ki to make your blasts stronger! You can't use those piddly ki-balls forever!" Vegeta coached.

"I know, Mr. Picky. I'm trying to, but it's draining my energy so fast!" Alex growled back.

"Channel your ki and funnel it through your soul. Find a way to lessen the drain on yourself. That'll make the blasts charge up better." Goku pep-talked him.

Alex closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt a burning light in his mind surge to the surface after a few minutes, and opened them almost as fast as a snake. He then zanzokened over about 20 feet and charged his ki aura to a healthy blue and fired a medium-sized blast into the ground, causing some of it to actually melt inward.

Vegeta looked impressed, "Good job, Kakarott, that must've knocked something loose in his head."

Alex growled, "I've got to get this down better. I need to form a larger attack."

"Well, don't worry about it today, you need to keep to your weight training, and your ki-charging stuff." Goku replied.

Alex grumbled back and went back to putting his weighted clothes on and running around, firing slightly charged blasts at the ground in front of him as he ran...

(September 4, 2001 A.D.; 6:24pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Dan grumbled as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. He had attended an extended training session with Dusty, Devin, Radditz, The Rock and Stone Cold, all over at Dusty's house. Apparently Devin had talked with Dusty the other night about his training, giving him the idea to call Radditz over to help them with their own training. Dan to his house earlier that morning about jumping up their training, to Dan's slight dismay. He was lifting 680 lbs weights now, while wearing a 350 lbs handicap with both the Rock and Stone Cold's weights, as well as wearing weighted armor like Radditz's. While he was lifting that, he was watching The Rock, Stone Cold and Dusty and Devin facing each other, while Radditz was coaching them from the sidelines.

The Rock had taught Dusty and Radditz the Rock Bottom that day, while Stone Cold had also learned the Saturday Crush. Devin had also learned how to do the Stone Cold Stunner properly, and now had the means to test it on Stone Cold himself as a part of his training.

After slamming him down into the grass properly, Steve grumbled, but replied, "You people learn fast, and I honor you for it."

Dan was now struggling to lift the same weights as before, except with Radditz now standing ON TOP of them. Radditz was having Dan do this for two reasons: one was to learn to balance others on top of him with accuracy, and other was for Dan to learn to deal with lifting addition weight that may add on during the normal session, as to teach him to expect the unexpected. After all the session was done, Dan was now 5-10 times stronger than when he started that session. Devin had also strengthened another 5-10 times, as had Dusty, the Rock and Stone Cold. Radditz had also slightly strengthened as well.

(September 4, 2001 A.D.; 7:32pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Vernon was also training with the ferocity of a tiger, darting around various stationary objects of little value in his own neighborhood and firing small blasts at them, leaving scorch marks on them, while all the way under the watchful eyes of Piccolo and #17. Vernon, unlike Alex, definitely had the advantage of speed when he attacked, and trained. Vernon would always rat on Alex about his leg problem, and tease him about being inferior to Vernon, and Alex would at times get annoyed with it, which is part of the reason their rivalry existed in the first place.

"He's still got a long way to go, #17." Piccolo said to the cyborg, "He might have speed, and he might be learning quick, but he still needs a real fight to test his mettle."

"Well, shall we 'test the mouse'?" asked #17, a bit eager to have some fun of his own.

"Not today. Maybe in a couple more days he'll be ready for a fight with us. Of course, we'll have to lessen our power before so, but we'll give him a couple of days." Piccolo replied, cutting off his friend's plans.

"Hey, what's he doing now?" #17 asked with curiosity.

He saw Vernon below a large apple tree, aiming what looked like energy coming our of his combined palms, which were outstretched over his head.

Piccolo scrutinized it for a moment, before his eyes went wide with shock, "Impossible! He shouldn't be able to do that yet! That attack took Gohan 2 full months to perfect, and he looks to have it down perfect as well!"

"What attack!" #17 asked in eagerness.

"He's doing a Masenko." Piccolo replied, a bit more calm down.

"MA...SENKO... HA!" Vernon growled, firing a large golden beam of energy into the upper branches of the tree, searing them off, and sending other branches flying off in different directions, scattering apples and wood everywhere. When Vernon had finished, the entire upper half of the tree was missing.

"Interesting. Maybe he'll be ready faster then we thought..." Piccolo mused to himself as Vernon panted to himself on the ground.

"Well Devin, it seems you're not the only one who can use a super blast now, are you?" he asked to himself, as Devin had also called Vernon to boast to him about his Saturday Crush the other night.

Content with himself, Vernon floated back to his house and closed the door behind him. Piccolo began to sweat a little to himself. He was quickly beginning to realize that perhaps his bet with Dan was a big mistake...

(September 5, 2001 A.D.; 8:24am EST; Canton, Ohio)

The next day, Alex had gone outside from getting some water, only to have an apple fall from the roof and hit him on the head. After wondering how the apple had suddenly gotten there, he had gone back to his training. He was now determined to fire off a larger blasts, now that he had better control over charging them.

Goku asked Vegeta, "How do you think he's doing now?"

"I'd say he's still chugging on, Kakarott. Nothing seems to deter him from getting it right. It's only a matter of time before he..." Vegeta replied, but..

"Haaa!" Alex had screamed suddenly, interrupting Vegeta's conversation.

As Goku and Vegeta turned, their eyes widened slightly as they saw Alex with some energy around his body that was flaring up. Alex suddenly cupped his hands to the side, in the shape of an open clam.

"Alex! Wait! You're not ready to do something like that yet!" Goku yelled.

_Quiet Goku! I'm going to do this, one way or another!_ Alex growled back in his mind. "Ka... me..."

"Boy! If you overdo this and kill yourself, it's your life, not ours!" Vegeta screamed to him, trying to knock him out of it, but Alex stubbornly continued on.

"Ha... me..." Alex continued.

"Dammit! He's going to do it! He might not be able to go full output. Vegeta, get your sensu beans! I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!" Goku ordered to his ally.

"No way, Kakarott! If he's going to try this, I might as well watch him!" Vegeta growled back.

"HA!" Alex screamed, shoving his hands outward and firing a medium sized Kamehameha towards a tree in his backyard.

The Kamehameha slammed into the tree, for about 5 seconds, until Alex abruptly let up on his blast and fell to his knees, gasping with lack of energy. Goku had only looked shortly at the kamehameha Alex had fired, and had gotten his bag of Sensu Beans, given to him by Korin over 5 years ago, and quickly shoved one into Alex's mouth.

"Quick, eat this, and shallow it. I can't believe you'd be dumb enough to try a Kamehameha with that much power, and that little experience! Were you trying to get yourself killed!" Goku scolded him.

Alex chomped the sensu bean, realizing what it would do, and sighed in relief as his energy returned to him, and he felt himself grow a little stronger.

He looked back to Goku with a naive-looking smile on his face, "Hahaha! Forgive my persistence, Goku, but I had to know if I was ready yet. You see, it appears Devin's been training a little with Radditz as well. He's already learned the Saturday Crush. Devin and his boasting made me realize that I had to learn how to fire a large scale blast of my own."

"Large scale! You call THAT large scale? That tree is barely singed! You're a marshmallow, Alex!" Vegeta laughed jokingly at the last part, and Alex had turned to find out Vegeta was right.

The tree was only singed by the attack. Alex grumbled, before recognizing the crack that ran down the middle. "Oh my god! That's the same damn tree Heero crashed into 2 days ago! How can that thing be still standing after that!" Alex growled.

"I don't know, but I'll let you have an hour break, since you had the guts to pull off a high-level move for your level of experience. But don't do it again for a while. At least not at that level of power. Baby-fart Kamehamehas are fine, but don't go overboard." Goku replied, giving him a slap on the back for good luck, but he had forgotten to pull back some of his power, and Alex almost went flying on his face.

"Watch the strength, 'Hercules'! I'm not that strong... YET." Alex grumbled and went back into his house. Vegeta shrugged as he waited for Alex to come back out to continue...

(September 5, 2001 A.D.; 1:04pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Unbeknownst to Alex, that very same day, Vernon was also trying to pull off some other big ki blasts. He had been able to do a few more Masenkos and later he was even able to pull off a small variation of Piccolo's 'Hellzone Grenade', as he called it in DBZ: Budokai'. The only differences was that Vernon was only able to fire 4 shots instead of almost 20 like Piccolo's. #17 grumbled, remembering Piccolo using that same move on him when they had fought over 17 years ago.

"Great, now Piccolo's found another Gohan to train. This is going to be so fun." he said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

"Mind your manners, #17. It's not all the time I can find a student this devoted anymore. Especially after Gohan ran off and got married. At least he and his kid Pan were still doing some training at first when I last checked on them." Piccolo replied, as he also still weighed the stakes of he and Dan's little bet in his head.

"Let me ask you Piccolo. Do you ever feel jealous of that Videl girl? I mean, when she came into the picture, Gohan started down a different path, less of a warrior's path. Do you think either of you will ever live to regret that?" #17 asked, with curious intent.

Piccolo looked solemn at the question, "That is hard for me to think about now. I'm not sure if it was the best decision he could make, but we'll figure that out some other day. I think Vernon's about to pull another move out of his pocket."

Sure enough, Piccolo was right, #17 was now seeing Vernon do the Kamehameha as well. Vernon had decided to target the last of the tree he started on with the Masenko the day before. The kamehameha ripped into the tree somewhat, but it did not quite destroy the tree fully.

"Whatever..." Vernon grumbled, "That tree should be ashes by now."

"Not bad for only 3 days of training, Vernon." Piccolo said, "You are progressing fast, perhaps even faster than Alex's own training. I've been keeping contact with Goku and Vegeta, and they said that Alex did his first major blast only 4 hours ago, and it by ironic chance happened to be also a Kamehameha. This says that you seem to have a knack for learning things fast, at least."

"Wait! Did you just say ALEX is training as well!" Vernon asked in shock.

"Yes. I believe he's also mentioned that Devin, The Rock, Stone Cold, Dusty, Dan and Radditz have also been doing some smaller training lately. It looks like this generation is going to grow into warriors. Let's just hope the majority of them... shall I say... stays alive." Piccolo said with a smirk on his face at the end, for a moment not caring so much about his thoughts of human weakness, "But don't worry yourself Vernon. You're progressing fast enough to be better off than most of the others... for now."

Piccolo then floated up into the air, and flew off slowly to the south, leaving Vernon to think in this thoughts, and #17 to wonder about all that his ally had said...

(September 5, 2001 A.D.; 3:12pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Goku had taken off after Alex's little Kamehameha stunt a few hours back. He realized that Alex was quite headstrong. Perhaps a bit too headstrong. In that case, something might have to be done to help Alex get around that problem. He had mentally contacted Piccolo about 2 hours ago, asking him to come over to a secluded spot in a less populated area of the Canton South District. The two of them had met up half way, and then both landed at their intended destination, where Jason was waiting for them in the fields.

"Hey guys! Whassup?" Jason asked.

From the look of things, Jason had also been somehow training himself a little. He wasn't as strong as Alex yet, according to Goku's ki sense, but he would make a good second student, for both him and Piccolo. He might let Vegeta do a bit more of the training with Alex, while Piccolo might decide to let #17 handle more of Vernon's training, while the two of them trained Jason more. Jason revealed he could already fire some energy, but Goku had to teach him how to properly charge his energy, much like Alex did. Goku and Piccolo had also combined their weighted clothing methods, putting Jason in a combination of both types of outfits. In this new getup, Jason was slowly making his way over and across many of the roads and fields in the area, slowly, but surely picking up speed, much to Piccolo's amusement.

_Dammit! I got the feeling Dan's gonna win this bet! But I'm not gonna try to stop it. If these people really CAN outpower Yamcha's gang in less than 3 months, I'll have something to rub in THEIR faces for once!_ Piccolo had thought to himself, a little contemplative with this development.

(September 6, 2001 A.D.; 7:24am EST; Canton, Ohio)

The next day, Vegeta had discovered that Radditz had found an intact scouter in the utility belt of his armor2. Calling him over, and asking him for the scouter, he used it to check Alex's powerlevel at it's best output. He chuckled low at it.

"Well, it seems you've improved about 1,000+ times. You know read out at 10,000 degrees on the mark." Vegeta said, "A remarkable improvement from the 8.4 that you began with."

"Feh! I still can't believe I was that weak, I was weaker than any of the others, even Dan and Clint!" Alex grumbled angrily.

"Alex, you don't easily recover from a leg disorder like the kind you had in the past." Goku replied.

"How the hell did you two know about that!" Alex growled in anger.

"Well, Devin and Vernon explained it to us. They said Nina was the one who healed you two or so months ago." Goku replied.

"Fine, but they better not have said anything stupid about me in the process." Alex grumbled, "So what do we do today?"

"For a while, we'll both train you in various old stuff of ours, but later Vegeta will be taking over the training. It's mainly up to him what you do after wards." Goku replied.

Vegeta looked at Goku with an odd glare. _/Kakarott! What are you doing/_

Goku replied back, _/You'll understand soon enough, Vegeta. I won't divulge too much information to you about it now./_

After all of that had gone on, Radditz had taken back his scouter and left off for parts unknown.

(September 6, 2001 A.D.; 2:31pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Radditz however was later called over to Vernon's place by Piccolo and #17, having learned of the scouter from a call Goku made to him 90 minutes ago. Piccolo wanted apparently to see Vernon's powerlevel after all these days. His reading was surprising.

"Interesting. He's already at 10,300, and that's from the 11 he had back when we first met him." Piccolo mused.

"Well, that's only a little better than Alex apparently. Vegeta said he was at 10,000 even, so I guess these two are quite the competitive little shits." Radditz replied.

"Yes, that is interesting. May I borrow this for a while, Radditz?" Piccolo replied, thinking the scouter would allow him to keep better tabs on Vernon to see his progress.

"Well, yes, but don't use on anyone over 240,000 powerlevel, or it'll probably explode. I got lucky to find this scouter, so take care of it green man." Radditz replied, as he flew off again, apparently to head for Dusty's house again.

Piccolo smirked, "So, it seems Vernon and Alex are going to keep their path of rivalry for a while. Almost reminds me of a certain two Saiya-jin I've come to know well."

Vernon walked up to Piccolo, "So, I saw you scanning me with that scouter. What was my level?"

"10,300, in 3 days. From a mere 11, that's impressive. Also, I know Alex's level now. It's 10,000 even. Radditz was over there earlier as well." Piccolo replied.

Vernon smirked inwardly, _Yeah Alex... I'm sweet, and you're not. Heh._

Vernon then went off back to train with #17 a bit, as they had decided to bump up the difficulty of the training a decent amount.

Soon Piccolo lifted into the air and flew off back towards the Canton South District, thinking to himself, _ It's not even been a full week since we met him, and he's already about 1/4 of the way to 45,000! At this rate, he'll be at around 450,000 when 3 months passes!_

(September 6, 2001 A.D.; 3:04pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Goku and Piccolo met again in the clear fields on the Canton South Area, meeting with Jason. Piccolo decided to scan him with the scouter, and got a 7,830 powerlevel reading out of him.

"Jason's close to 8,000 on the scouter, so we need to continue training him. I think we should try to get him to fire large scale blasts today. Do you think he could get that same boost that you said Alex did?" Piccolo asked.

"Perhaps I could push him to, but I'll have to see what I can do with him." Goku replied.

He went over and asked, "Jason, are you any good with large-scale blasts just yet?"

"Well, I can do a small Soukidan3 like Yamcha and control it, but it's not terribly powerful yet." Jason replied.

"Alright, do you think you could fire a kamehameha yet?" asked Goku.

"I'll try it if you want. Not sure what'll come from it though." Jason then cupped his hands to the side, "Ka... me... ha..."

Goku frowned... he didn't see any energy forming in his hands yet. Perhaps he wasn't ready just yet.

"Me..."

"Jason, don't worry about it. It can wait a..."

"HA!" Jason screamed almost like Dusty, and shot a large-sized Kamehameha with plenty of ki on the side at a diagonal angle into the air.

Goku's eyes almost bugged out in shock, "Wow! That's bigger than Alex's from a day back! How did you do that so... suddenly?" Goku asked. J

ason looked down at Goku, and scratched his head a bit, "You know, I don't actually know too well how I did that."

"Waa...!" Goku urked as he sweatdropped at him.

"Just kidding. I think it was the fact that this was meant to be a more fake-out kamehameha. I didn't actually put a lot of power into it, despite the size of it." Jason replied, chuckling.

"Well, that Kamehameha registered at 18,400 on the Scouter, so it was more than double your own strength, Jason!" Piccolo said to him, getting his second major surprise of the day.

"WHAT? Impossible! I know didn't put that... much power into... argh..." Jason said, as he fell to his knees in fatigue.

Goku grumbled, "You and Alex both... why do you guys suggest of OVERDOING everything so much?" Goku growled, almost wanting to bop him on the head for that, and giving him a sensu bean, healing Jason to full health, and making him a bit stronger.

"Sorry. I really didn't mean to overpower it like that." Jason replied.

Piccolo's reading now appeared to be 10,210 on the Scouter, a remarkable improvement from moments ago. He wasn't going to tell Jason that though. These people for one were already getting really strong so fast, and he wasn't about to let Dan find out just how much he was regretting making that bet right now...

(September 7, 2001 A.D.; 12:06pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

The next day, Piccolo had still been holding onto Radditz's scouter. He had primarily left #17 to training Vernon the other day. So when he returned and scanned Vernon, he had gotten a major surprise. Vernon's powerlevel output now read 17,400, which was a good 7,100 gain in one day.

"#17 must've done much with him while I was gone." He mused to himself.

"Do you have no faith in me, Piccolo?" #17 chuckled from above, sparring with Vernon at low power in mid-air.

"So, you're pushing him harder and harder I see. Well, just don't let him die up there, will you?" Piccolo asked.

"Fine by me, but I think we should increase his level of training, don't you think?" #17 replied back.

With that, Piccolo had given Vernon heavier weights on his body, at least 3 times heavier, not to mention weighted gloves and weighted shoes, like Goku and Vegeta's. This would hopefully give Vernon the advantage of attacking faster in battle if he needed. However Vernon would take a little time to get accustomed to it. Piccolo had finally realized that human or not, these people were definitely going to have potential to be powerful fighters.

(September 7, 2001 A.D.; 5:58pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Over these last few days, Clint had also been giving himself some training, however unlike many of the others, he was training all by himself. He was very knowledgeable about the many methods that Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Radditz had used, understanding about weighted clothing, lifting weights, running around a lot, which he done much of in the last 5 days in Fohl Village where he lived, as well as manipulating energy for blasts, which he joked made good weed-killers, and he had even figured out how to SENSE ki on his own, however masking it was not what he thought it was, and he was struggling with it.

He was not too terribly worried about his own strength at the moment, and the previous training was mainly to give him more energy to fly, and get himself more into shape again. Sitting around at your computer tended to make training a bit of a chore, and he wanted to break that habit a bit, but at least the computer had helped him with other ideas. He had made various training items, such as a weighted chain mace that he would swing to strengthen his arms, as well as other various items, such as a special bicycle that he would use to enhance his leg strength and a bit of his speed.

He soon found he could jump above the height of his roof at his house, about 15 feet. Of course, he figured Vernon would probably be able to do better, with his past record on track and jumping at school. Clint thought back to the whole merger incident. Perhaps he should take this just a bit more seriously? Yes... perhaps he should. With that, he went back into his house as dusk began to break...

(September 8, 2001 A.D.; 3:56pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Today was a big day for Alex. It was time...

"Okay, for the first true test, you must last as long as possible against me, Alex." Vegeta said, as this was one of his training exercises.

Alex smirked at the Saiya-jin, "Alright then, bucko! Come at me!" Vegeta lunged at Alex.

Alex tried to dodge, but was hit and sent into a tree, sending it over.

Alex was on his back in immense pain, "No... I will not give up! That was nothing, Vegeta..." _Ow... SHIT THAT HURT._ Alex had thought to himself, as he painfully flipped up.

Alex appeared behind Vegeta, and axehandled him over the head, but Vegeta barely budged.

"Don't try to hit me directly! With the difference in our powerlevels, it's fruitless right now." Vegeta said, kneeing Alex in the stomach, knocking him on his back again.

"Argh... I don't care if you're a higher powerlevel than me!" Alex growled, attempting to flip back up, but Vegeta had tripped him, and then kicked Alex in the back as he fell, sending him flying face first into a tree...

_Ow... that sucked serious balls..._ Alex thought to himself as he painfully peeled himself out, and got up, looking at Vegeta. _There must be someway to at least humilate him..._ Alex thought.

Vegeta charged again, and Alex barely got himself out of the way, only to be kicked once again into another tree. Alex laid on the ground, breathing heavily.

"You still have a long way to go before you're at our level, but that wasn't terrible." Vegeta said to Alex with a small smirk, "You did last more than 30 seconds."

However, that was not good enough for Alex. A deep anger began to well inside of him.

"Not terrible...? I'm not FINISHED YET!" Alex growled, gritting his teeth in anger, as his ki aura began to flare up with great intensity. Goku's eyes went wide as he sensed Alex's powerlevel almost multiply by 20 times as his hair began to spike up, his eyes turning turquoise, and his hair turning gold, and Alex had quickly flipped up and punched Vegeta in his face, knocking him back a few inches, but Vegeta had ignored Alex's attack and was staring at Alex in disbelief.

_That hair! Those eyes! He can't be!_ "IM... IMPOSSIBLE! You're... you're a Saiya-jin too!" Vegeta stuttered.

"Wow, and a Super Saiya-jin at that!" Goku said from the sidelines.

Alex suddenly went wide eyed. He did feel a lot stronger and a little lighter. "Goku, go get me a mirror, would ya?" he asked.

"Uh, sure." Goku said and flew in the house and after a couple minutes, he came back out with a hand mirror, and give it to Alex.

Alex saw his reflection, and smirked and laughed loudly, "YES! I AM! I AM TRULY A SAIYA-JIN! THIS IS SWEET! I'M PART OF THE STRONGEST RACE ALIVE! I'M ALSO A SUPER SAIYA-JIN OF ALL FRICKIN' THINGS! OH YES, VERNON, WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW!"

Vegeta was grumbling, proud of Alex, yet feeling bested, as Alex had taken little effort to transformed where as it had taken him years of harsh training to do it. He was also surprised at the fact Alex really WAS a Saiya-jin. There was no way any normal human could do that.

"Fine, the match is a draw, Alex. You have a new power, so I might as well let you bask in your pride for a while. But don't think you're stronger than me yet by any means. You have a long way to go." Vegeta grumbled.

Alex simply ignored him, and flew back into his house, admiring his hair and petting it often. Goku and Vegeta followed after him, and upon seeing him do this, merely sweatdropped.

A couple of minutes later, he came back over to them, "I'm going to have to consult my parents about this, you two. I'll talk to you later, or something, but I must get to the bottom of all of this."

Alex went over and picked up the phone, and began to dial numbers...

(September 9, 2001 A.D.; 3:47pm EST; Canton, Ohio)

Vernon was in pain... much pain. Apparently he had done so well in the recent days that #17 had convinced Piccolo to let Vernon spar on slightly more realistic terms. For Vernon, that meant he barely stood much of a chance of winning directly, and that the match had been more about outlasting him as long as possible. Unfortunately, #17 was no slowpoke, and at a high powerlevel like his, it was very hard to dodge him. Vernon suddenly slammed through a tree, and was now flipping sideways with a twisted position. He had to, in order to dodge the 7 different ki blasts that had been aimed at his head, arms, and feet, and one at his stomach.

However despite Vernon's fancy dodge, #17 appeared behind him and slammed into his spine, sending Vernon careening forward, and smashing through a nearby fence in his neighborhood. Some of his neighbors were watching, but despite the scene, they had been given heads up by Piccolo about Vernon's training, and that this was only a more "serious spar" as he put it, and that Vernon was in no real danger of dying here. #17 was a little impressed that someone below a 20,000 powerlevel was standing up to him at even a small fraction of his own power, which was approximately 465,000 at this point, according to Piccolo's own senses.

"Good going, you're somewhat good at lasting against a superior opponent, but I think we need to take things up a notch!" #17 replied, and started shooting blasts towards Vernon in near rapid fire succession.

Vernon knew those blasts could be moving much faster, but this was a spar, not a fight to the death, and #17 was only telling him: "You must keep your will and endurance up at all times, even against a superior opponent." Vernon growled, he was appreciative of the teaching, but he was not too keen on getting his butt kicked so easily. He was beginning to lose his cool a little, and started charging up his own Kamehameha, as he darted forward at #17, decided to dodge each of his individual blasts as well as he could. After about 30 seconds of dodging, he appeared in #17's face and unleashed his Kamehameha right in his face.

#17 was blasted back in surprise for a couple seconds, but then recovered and jumped THROUGH the kamehameha and end it by slugging Vernon right in the face and sending him flying back like spinning missile. He went crashing into the fence one more time and stopped, barely twitching from all the damage.

#17 smirked and walked over to him, as Piccolo watched in silent watch. Vernon's vision was blurred, and he could barely make out simple colors in his current state. He was barely able to recognize #17 as he stood over Vernon's hurt form.

"You did well, Vernon. But perhaps we should up the ante just one more time. Perhaps Piccolo and I should just finish you off now and end it all."

Vernon's mind reeled in shock, _What!_

Piccolo raised his eyes at #17... _What the hell are you doing, #17?_ he thought to himself.

"I had high hopes for you. I trained you and all, and yet you fail us in our time of need." #17 continued on, not really intent on doing what he said. He figured, with Vernon down, and dazed as he was, that the cyborg could have a little fun toying with his mind, since he couldn't fight Vernon now with how injured he was.

Piccolo saw the playful smirk on his face and calmed down. _He's only messing with him. I was hoping that was the case, else I'd have to intervene._

Vernon on the other hand, was beginning to believe #17's words, _No... #17, you lied to me! You betrayed me!_ Vernon thought to himself. Had be been able to move his mouth, he would've said it out loud.

#17 begin to form what appeared to the casual onlooker as a large ball of energy, but in truth, even if it hit Vernon, it would barely damage a tree. Vernon saw the blinding light through his blurred eyes, and began to growl. #17 had not heard the growl at first, due to the whine of his trick ki blast, but he did began to see Vernon's energy flare up to a healthy blue.

Piccolo's eyes went wide, "What? His powerlevel's vastly increasing!" He then began to see a flicker of... "GOLD?" Piccolo shouted.

#17 had saw the gold flicker, and had seen Vernon's eyes turning turquoise. "Uh... oh..."

#17 suddenly powered down the blast as Vernon let out a monstrous scream of rage, "RRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Vernon screamed, his injuries healing a little from the vast increase in power, as his hair faded to gold, and stood up on end.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Piccolo screamed, "He's... a SUPER SAIYA-JIN!" he stated in shock, and now realized that even though Vernon might not be considered human anymore, that he still had to worry about his bet with Dan.

Vernon had not heard anything that Piccolo had said, and he looked at #17 with what looked to be bared fangs now among his teeth. Piccolo realized he looked like a Quasi-Oozaru.

"#17, I think those comments of yours pushed him too much!" Piccolo said to him, and then cringed, as he saw Vernon deck #17 with a large fist, sending #17 flying backwards a couple of feet.

#17 actually felt a slight bit of damage, and yelled, "Woah! Woah! Vernon, CALM DOWN! I was joking about all of that!"

Vernon growled, half enraptured by his newly-found Saiya-jin side, "You... betrayed... me!" and he jumped at #17 again, only to be apprehended by Piccolo in mid-air.

"No... Vernon... calm down! He was joking with you!" but Vernon smashed his head against Piccolo's, which while it barely damaged the Namekian, caused him to let up on Vernon, and he went charging at #17.

However just as he was about to hit him again, he felt something smash down on his head. It wasn't the same force as either #17 or Piccolo, but it was strong enough to knock sense into him. Vernon's vision returned to a normal hue, and he was still Super Saiya-jin, but he was no longer enraptured with anger.

"What... who... what's going on?" he asked out loud, feeling the strain on his power, and then he realized it... "I... I just went Super Saiya-jin! Thank you #17. All that "you suck" talk must've slapped some kind of anger into my head."

"You can thank ME for snapping you to your senses, too." Nina's voice said from just above them, as they looked up to see her floating them with energy charged around her hand. "You knocked him back to normal?" #17 asked.

"Yes, Vernon's not THAT strong yet. He's around a 300,000 powerlevel, but Nina's a little over 1,000,000 as I can tell." Piccolo replied.

"Yeah. Anyways, I'm off to find Radditz and Dan. I came over here because I figured you needed to know that I going to see them about a special type of training. I'll be off, and don't be getting in over your head, Vernon." Nina said as she quickly flew off in the direction of Dusty's house.

Vernon grinned at himself, "Now I know I can slam Alex down a few notches with this."

"Well, at least you're still in the game again. You see Vernon, I wasn't going to bring it up to you yet, but yesterday Vegeta and Goku told me that Alex learned how to go Super Saiya-jin as well. Apparently Vegeta was sparring with him a bit like we were today and it ended up in a similar result."

"Aw shit..." Vernon grumbled, "I'm back to being even with 'crutches' again. Oh well. Gives me more competitive flair. The two of us will settle it later, but I want to rest now. I think I've deserved it consider the hell #17 put me through to get it."

"Very well, but we train 2 more hours tomorrow, you got that kid?" Piccolo asked.

"Fine by me, Piccolo." Vernon said as he sighed to himself and walked into his house to go to bed for a nap. Piccolo sighed to himself, finding himself surprised that Nina was still able to knock Vernon back to normal, even as a Super Saiya-jin.

It was then he realized he had already lost the bet with Dan before he had even made it. He remembered suddenly of Paula's own powerlevel, which had been around 1 million, a little less than Nina. Maybe Dan still wouldn't count her against him though, he thought to himself...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1** Although I'm sure he'll complain about me putting this here, I wanna fairly inform people that before the time of Misfits, Alex used to have a form of cerebral palsy, which limited his standing ability during certain phases in his life. In the series, Nina healed him of this some time after they met, although Alex is still trying to get fully used to the change in early Series 1. He is going to overcome it, but it makes him slower for a while then many expect of him.

**2** To understand why Radditz has a scouter, I must explain that in the Misfits series, I handle the after realm differently from how Toriyama did it. All people who die have a spiritual body, instead of just looking like clouds. They can still train themselves when dead, if they really wish to, this is also why Nina saw both Radditz and Dodoria as they really were when she got sent to Hell by the portal. As for the scouter itself, any kind of articles or objects the person was wearing when they die also get copied over. With all the different people who died in the past, some scouters ended up being taken with them, and Radditz managed to get his hands on one of them before be got sent back.

**3** **Soukidan** "Spinning Energy Bullet", or "Spirit Bomb", the REAL Spirit Bomb. The one Goku uses is misnamed in the dub, and is actually called "Genki Dama" or "Energy Ball". The Soukidan is the controllable ki ball that Yamcha used at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai against Kami in the body of Shen. :P


	6. Part 5: The War of the Pranksters

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
-----------------------------

**Part 5 - The War of the Pranksters**

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 1:36pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at his own house, Clint was working on this computer, trying to come up with more ideas for training devices. He was wondering if perhaps it was possible for him to develop something straight from out of Vegeta and Goku's own world, much akin to the gravity chambers he would see Vegeta use on the show. Another idea was that he was also thinking about experimental time travel. Whatever it was, unfortunately for him, it would soon get interrupted when a shadowy figure flew up in front of his window.

"Hey Clint what's up?" it asked him.

He turned to the figure and said, "What brings YOU of all people here?"

"I want your help, considering you are the big genius and everything, not to mention I don't think Dan would put up with it like you would." the voice said to him.

"Well, okay. Exactly what do you have in mind?" Clint asked.

"I want you to help me play a major trick on Alex at his house. You with me?" it asked back.

Clint smirked, "Yeah, I'm with you." He then slightly hesitated, "I think... depends on what you want me to do."

"Alright... here's the plan..." the voice said, whispering into Clint's ear through his window screen...

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 3:22pm; Canton, Ohio)

At Alex's house, Goku was now teaching Alex how to use the multi-form technique to split himself into two entities. After his big battle with Vegeta on the 8th, Goku realized that having an equal level partner for Alex to fight with might give him a much better overall benefit. However Alex was not having a lot of luck just yet, and many of his attempts just earned Alex lost energy.

At least one thing big had been confirmed on Alex's part. After calling his parents on the 8th, they had come home later that night and admitted the truth about Alex's origins, at least as far as they knew. Alex had learned he had crashed into their back fishing pond, inside a spherical pod of sorts. His now fosterdad dug around in the garage nearby, opening up a hidden floor hatch underneath the dirt, and pulling out the pod. Alex called Goku and Vegeta to them, to confirm if what he had discovered was right, and he was. He had crashed to Earth in a Saiya-jin space pod. However this now confused Alex. He was 16 years old, and only in the last week or so did the merger actually occur. Just how could he be a full-blooded Saiya-jin, going by that oddball logic?

However Alex had decided to put that aside for the time being. Learning he was Saiya-jin, and then learning from Goku through Piccolo that Vernon had also gone Super Saiya-jin in near feral anger, had made his competitive urges only rise. He was determined to oust Vernon at all costs, and it ran in his mind almost like a mantra of sorts. On the other hand, Goku and Vegeta were nervous about learning Vernon was Saiya-jin as well. The rivalry that had already existed between Alex and Vernon, had now been hypercharged to massive lengths, and the two elder Saiya-jin feared the two younger ones would end up doing a near repeat of the old rivalry that had existed between them for almost 13 years.

The two elder Saiya-jin had now continued overlooking Alex's training, when suddenly, Piccolo, #17 and Vernon dropped down out of the skies, landing on the lawn nearby. Alex grumbled inside, but smirked outwards at his rival, who rivaled the smirk with his own.

"Alex..." Vernon started.

"Vernon..." Alex replied, forming a small scowl.

"You ready to get your ass kicked?"

"You tempting fate with me again, Vernon?"

"Yes, because I've won at least 9 out of 10 of these little skirmishes, and this one won't be different."

"We'll see... Abercrombie and Bitch!"

Alex and Vernon began to charge forth, but Piccolo's voice cut them down in mid-flight. "ENOUGH."

They dropped out of stance, and looked to Piccolo's direction, seeing that he, Goku, Vegeta and #17 were talking, discussion something.

They then turned to Vernon and Alex, and Goku replied, "Alex, Vernon... we've all been gathered here, so we can train together, and meld our styles for a couple of days."

"Wait... you mean we're training together?" Alex asked in shock.

"Yes, so you'd better not get too carried away, you two, or we won't be healing you this time around!" Piccolo grumbled back in reply.

"Damn." Vernon cursed softly, "And I so wanted to kick his ass here and now."

"The day** I** kick **your** ass will come soon enough!" Alex replied back, and the two of them jumped off into the fray and started sparring.

Vernon started off by dodging Alex's flying kick, and swinging a mean left hook, which Alex blocked, following with a trip to Vernon's left leg, however as Vernon flipped around, he spun his right leg in an arc, and slammed Alex in the upper chest, sending him flying at a slightly downward angle, crashing into the ground, and leaving some skid marks.

Alex flipped up and grumbled, "Now you're gonna get it, you donkey-punching cow!1"

"Come get some, bitch." Vernon replied with a smirk, and jumped back at Alex.

However this time Alex was waiting, and flipped onto his back and Vernon began to fly over him, until Alex pushed back up and delivered a double kick that sent flying Vernon skyward. Alex quickly flew up after him, and attempted to grab him by the collar to swing back to Earth, but Vernon zanzokened at the last second, and reappeared to Alex's side, axehandling him in the head, and sending him flying downwards, until he suddenly crashed into a tree. However, instead of breaking the tree, Alex collided with it, and just slid right off, landing on his back hard. Alex, through a daze, looked to the tree, and regained his full consciousness, growling.

"Argh, that damn tree again! Geez! Heero crashed into it. I kamehameha it, and then I crash into it, and it's STILL standing?" Alex grumbled, but he didn't have time to keep ranting, as Vernon dove at him.

Alex growled, "No you don't! Ka... me... ha... me... ha!" and fired a medium scale kamehameha.

Vernon stopped in mid-flight, "Ok, we'll play it YOUR way... Ka...me..ha..me..ha!" and he sent down his own wave at Alex's, resulting in a small ki duel.

In the end, both exploded in mid flight, and both Alex and Vernon crashed to the ground, having expanded a bit too much energy from their trade off, prompting Goku and Piccolo to their aid.

"We tried to warn you two not to be stupid... so you two can just rest here until you're healed up." Piccolo said, picking Vernon up and hoisting him over his shoulder, while Goku did the same for Alex.

The two placed Alex and Vernon on the two couches in Alex's front room, leaving them to sleep for the time being.

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 4:28pm; Canton, Ohio)

When Alex and Vernon finally recovered, they had decided to apologize to each other for going overboard.

"Sorry about the over abuse, there Vernon. I got so into this fighting thing. I mean, look at us now. We're Saiya-jin, full blood no doubt! I guess it would explain our competitive nature, especially with each other." Alex said first.

Vernon chuckled, "Yeah, you make a serious point there Alex, and I must admit, you're not half bad in our last spar. I guess we did take it a bit far but... hey... they must have had no hard feelings for us."

Vernon was stopped mid speech as he noticed he and Alex had a glass of greenish juice laying on the tables near them.

"Sweet! Someone must've made Kool-Aid for us." Alex stated.

"That would be me, you dumbass." Devin's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Devin? What're you doing in my house?" Alex demanded.

"I was called over here for a bit of training with the Dusty, The Rock, Dan, Stone Cold and Radditz for about an hour now. The others have since gone home, but I heard about you two fools screwing up and overexhausting each other. I made those drinks for you when you woke up." He said, and then left back into the kitchen.

"Okay then..." Vernon replied, "Thanks Dev."

Alex and Vernon quickly took their drinks and gulped them down quickly.

"Nice... lemon kool-aid." Alex mused to himself.

Vernon just grunted in reply as he got up, "Ready to try this again, monkey-butt?" he taunted the smaller Saiya-jin teen.

"Of course, tard-boy." Alex replied back in a mutual tone, as the two left for parts unknown outside.

Back out in the backyard, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 were still present, but apparently Mr. Buu and Paula had also gathered over in the back yard. The latter two were actually eating and not training, eating being Buu's favorite pastime in the known world, and Paula for who-knows-what reason.

"What're you two doing here?" asked Vernon.

"Vegeta having big picnic! Vegeta good cook!" Buu replied quickly, in the middle of scarfing a hamburger.

Alex laughed out loud. "AHAHAHA! Vegeta can COOK! This I gotta see!" Vegeta scoffed.

"Yes, you delinquent brat, I can cook just fine. I especially have to know how, considering Kakarott never did. Bulma was at least smart enough in that manner to teach me how to feed myself, since her food wasn't always the perfect dishes for my stomach. And I wouldn't laugh if I were you, because I'm quite sure you can't cook yourself." Vegeta replied, but Alex still chuckled a little.

Then he realized he hadn't asked Paula why she had been there, "Why are you here, by the way? Getting reacquainted with Goku, or something?" he asked her.

Paula looked back causally. "Well yes, but... there's another reason I'm here. You'll probably find out soon enough." she replied back, the last part of her reply sounding a bit odd to them.

Vernon raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a talker." he replied mootly. Paula just shrugged back, and went back to eating her hamburger and macaroni dinner on the table.

Alex and Vernon set back down on the other side of the house, away from the picnic that was apparently going on.

"Ready?" Vernon asked. Alex raised his eyebrow slightly. Something seemed, off about how it came out of Vernon's mouth, but he shrugged it off.

"Yeah, I'm ready, let's get it on!" He called back. Vernon then raised HIS eyebrow. Somehow, the way it sounded coming out of Alex's mouth made him wonder if something was affecting him.

"Is your voice okay?" Vernon asked back.

"What! Why would you ask that?" Alex asked in surprise. Vernon noticed that Alex's replied sounded even more off than normal.

"I swear, you're voice sounds like it's slowly changing..." he replied.

Alex raised an eyebrow, Vernon was telling HIM that when it was Vernon who's voice was changing? "Me! You're the one who's voice is chang... ing..."

Alex then finally noticed the changing in his voice, and covered his mouth. Vernon noticed his voice was gaining a higher pitch.

"Alex, what the hell is happen... ing... to US!" Vernon had changed the end of his sentence, realizing his own voice was heightening in pitch well.

"Vernon, what the fuck is going on here!" Alex's voice almost sound like a chipmunk now.

"I don't know, but now we sound like a bunch of retarded chipmunks!" Vernon replied in slight anger.

"This is gay! How could our voices be going out on us like this!" Alex now sounded like he had the voice of Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

"What the fuck?" echoed a third chipmunkish voice from inside the house. Alex and Vernon were barely able to pinpoint the voice as Devin's, even though it sounded much like Simon.

Vernon looked on in dismay. "It must be happening to all of us! Let's check on the others."

After rushing out to the side, they found that Goku and Vegeta were still gathered around the grill at their house, while Buu and Paula still sat at the table finishing their food.

"Guys! Are your voices okay!" Vernon asked first, causing everyone there to stare at them with odd looks, almost sounding like Alvin himself.

"What happen to Vernon? Sound like he had tank of helium!" Mr. Buu replied.

"I think we did!" Alex replied, in his Theodore voice,

Vegeta started to bust up laughing, "Brat, what... hahaha... the hell happened... hehehe... to your voice! Bwahaha!"

Paula sat up, appearing to tilt her ear upwards a little. This got Alex and Vernon's attention, "What? What do you hear Paula?" Alex asked in curiosity.

"Exactly what I was expecting. I'll be right back..." she lifted up into the air and flew off eastward.

Devin came out and asked, "What the hell is going on?" in his Simon-like voice. Buu, Goku, Piccolo, #17 and Vegeta just stared at them with odd looks.

Nearby, in a group of trees, much laughter echoed over the land.

"Man, that was sweet Clint! I guess that voice serum we slipped in their drinks worked after all!" the same mysterious voice from earlier said.

"Yeah, I just hope we don't get in too much trouble for it. I mean, look at all the trouble we just caused." Clint replied, a bit amused, but feeling like he did a great wrong at the same time.

"Don't worry Clint, remember, we can sense their ki, but they can't sense us, so we can't be found here. We're perfectly safe!" the voice replied.

"Oh really? Then why did **I** find you?" Paula's annoyed voice suddenly came from behind them.

The voice tried to turn around, but **SMAAASH!** he was slammed on the head by Paula's patented frying pan, and sent flying out of the tree, his guise finally revealed.

Clint gulped, "Paula, do you mind if I just let myself fall out of the tree instead of hitting me?"

Paula groaned, "NO." **SMAAASH!** Clint went slamming down into the ground.

Paula grabbed both Clint and **Jason** and hauled them up into the air and flew back to Alex's yard. She dumped them in front of Alex, Vernon and Devin.

"Here's your culprits..." Paula stated, "Jason here apparently made a "Voice serum", intended to be some kind of joke to play on you. Clint went and slipped it into some drinks of yours. It'll wear off though in time, I think."

"What? Jason! How could you do such a thing!" Alex growled, but Jason was dazed.

"Goku, Vegeta... I have dibs on Clint's punishment... knowing how he'll hate it anyways. The rest of your may have Jason."

Paula then stared at Clint with a strange look, and Clint suddenly began to get hot, and small flames surrounded him, burning him up a little, and then at the end, she conked him unconscious again with the Frying Pan, and took him, and flew off with him in tow, as appearing as if she were dragging him through air.

"What do we do with Jason here?" Vernon asked.

Vegeta smirked, "We'll put him through a training session with us. He'll love that, won't he Kakarott?"

Goku gave Vegeta a neutral look and said, "It's up to you, I guess, but don't be too rough. We need him intact for tomorrow. The whole group is supposed to be going back to their school to let them know that they're okay. Also, I need to go see Paula and make sure she knows to do the same with Clint. I'll take a couple sensus just in case."

Goku then took off to the air and blasted off towards Fohl Village to find Paula and Clint, and to heal Clint for his return to school tomorrow, while Vegeta, Vernon, Devin, Alex, #17 and Piccolo went and had their way with training Jason...

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:00pm; Canton, Ohio)

About 2 and a half hours later, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo, Devin and Vernon had given Jason their training as punishment, leaving him worn out for 30 minutes, but Goku was nice enough to give him a sensu bean to restore his health to full strength, not wanting him to use fatigue as an excuse to miss his return to school the next day. Goku had also managed to find Paula and Clint, and healed up Clint, but Paula and Goku both sternly warned him not to be so mischievous like earlier, or worse consequences would result. Clint just took it all in stride and went into his house, not planning on doing that again for a while, and also preparing to go to sleep after his long day.

#17, Piccolo and Jason had left, while Goku and Vegeta had gone back into their house, leaving Alex, Devin and Vernon over at Alex's house. The voice serum had also worn off, as Paula predicted it would, about an hour ago, and they were talking in their normal pitch again. Now they were all lounging around in Alex's kitchen, while Alex himself was in his room surfing the internet. Suddenly, the phone in Alex's room rang. Alex got off of his bed and put the phone on speaker mode.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello? My name is Jerry Doppler from ACME Incorporated. I was wondering if you might be interesting in a rocket-powered guitar."

"What! What the hell are you talking about! This isn't Looney Toons, fag!" Alex growled, and slammed down on the speaker button.

Vernon and Devin chuckled at him, "Sounds like you just got a prankster on the other line, Alex."

"Yeah, really. ACME? Come on, who's dumb enough to believe that?" Alex grumbled to them.

Suddenly, the phone rang again. Vernon put the phone on speaker and said, "Binder residence?."

The voice on the other end was a bit different sounding, and much more deep, "Mr. Binder, I have called this place withholding a message for you from the HFIL."

"The what?" Vernon was confused.

Devin bumped ahead of Vernon, "Yeah right! The HFIL doesn't exist, you retarded ass, it's called HELL, not HFIL!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you're so ignorant and..." **CLICK** Devin hit the speaker button off, cutting off the voice's insult.

"Oh my god... I think it was the same little fucker from last time. He's good at changing his voice, or something!" Devin growled.

"Why does the voice sound a bit... familiar to me... though?" Vernon thought to himself out loud.

"You recognize that?" Alex asked.

"I said I might... We'll wait around to see if anyone calls again." Vernon replied.

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:05pm; Canton, Ohio)

At the 29th street district of Canton, Nina's house was almost totally vacant. Radditz slumped on the couch in her basement. Ever since he had arrived in Canton, Nina decided to give him a place to crash until he could find one of his own. Radditz didn't object, especially after he started get into training Devin, Dusty, Dan, The Rock and Stone Cold a little, however Nina had recently believed he should personally train Dan, and after a long explanation of her idea from Nina, Radditz had gotten the point of her intentions, and decided to go with it. He had just gotten back from telling most of his other training partners than he and Dan would be pulling back a little from their own training.

He had gotten home to find Nina gone, only a note on the table saying, "Radditz, I'm out right now. Small errand involving Clint and the others, and myself going back to Canton South High School to let them know we're okay. - Nina" Radditz had acknowledged it, went down to the basement, and picked up the remote, and was ready to turn the TV on down there, which he had started to get attached to a little, when a phone nearby phone suddenly rang.

He decided to cautiously answer it, "Hello, to whom am I speaking?"

"Hello good sir! Do you have long, back-length hair, and singed leg-hairs2? If so, the HFIL has a message for them." a voice, similar to the second one at Alex's house, spoke.

"WHAT! What the hell do they want! I'm not going back there! Tell that fat pink piece of shit Dodoria and those ogre freaks that I was revived fair and square!" Radditz growled.

"With all due respect, good si... **CLICK** the voice was cut off by Radditz slamming down the receiver. He looked over to the remote control, and the TV, and then realized.

"I don't want to watch TV anymore. I'm going out to find Nina..." he said, and left the house, taking off quickly into the air.

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:10pm; Canton, Ohio)

Dusty was mainly lounging around. Steve and Dwayne had told them that he was on a training break for a few days. Apparently they had gotten a call by cellphone from their managers at the WWE, telling them of a match that was going to be going down in a few days, and that they might wish to train together for it, considering they were both staged to appear in it. Dusty studied the two wrestlers, practicing not only their moves, but their banter and wrestler's talk. Dusty noticed that outside of the ring, the Rock and Stone Cold, or "Dwayne" and "Steve", as they called each other, acted more like normal people, instead of their wrestler persona, but they still liked using their personas in public, as to gain more attention. Also, they were planning on a surprise that they wouldn't say anything to Dusty about.

All they kept telling him when he asked that was, "You're friends will appreciate it when we do it." was Dwayne's reply mainly to him.

Steve looked a bit excited about what they had planned too. However, Dusty's train of thought would be interrupted when his phone rang.

He picked it up and asked, "Hello, Dusty speaking."

"Dusty, is it? I need to ask, are the famous Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin of WWE fame there? I have a message I'd like to give them." the voice sounded similar to the first voice at Alex's house earlier.

Dusty of course had no idea of this and said, "Hold on a second."

He put the phone on mute, and looked to the two Wrestlers, "Dwayne, Steve! You guys got a call from WWE, I think!" The Rock looked confused, as did Stone Cold.

_Strange, as I know, WWE always calls us by Cellphone, plus how would they know Dusty's number!_ The Rock thought to himself.

_You know, this sounds suspicious. But I want to know what this is about._ Steve thought to himself.

"Coming." Dwayne replied, as he walked up to the garage Dusty was in.

"Put it on speaker, would you?" Steve requested in his own half-order tone of voice.

Dusty shrugged and did so, and then unmuted it. "Yes? This is... the great one... what do you need from us now?" the Rock spoke in his wrestler's persona.

"Stone Cold Steve Austin here as well. I hope there's a damn good reason for you bothering us!" Stone Cold replied afterwards.

"Yes... anyways..." the voice continued, "I got some personal mail from Angus Johnson. Fan mail for both of you. He seems to be somewhere near you in Canton, Ohio, and caught word of your arrival here."

Steve sighed, and he and Dwayne exchanged looks of mistrust for this person.

"Relay it to us." the Rock requested. "Alright, the message says, and I quote:", then the voice changed to the same one as Radditz heard at his house, "You're a fat jabroni, Rock. And Stone Cold listens to Backstreet Boys and N'Sync!" and then clicked off, leaving dead air.

Dusty gave the phone a look of confusion, while Dwayne and Steve were fuming.

"I knew it! It wasn't those jabronis at WWE afterall! There's no damn way they'd know your number so fast! Someone just prank called us!" Dwayne replied, a mix of his normal and wresting personas.

Steve looked to be in deep thought, "I'll be back. I need to ask some questions about this. I'll see what I can dig up on our prank caller, because I have a feeling it's one of your friends messing with us, Dusty."

Dusty was a bit confused, but then replied, "Well, you might want to see Alex. He tends to get screwy once in a blue moon, but I don't think it's him, because he's too big a fan to do that."

"I'll go see him. Somehow, I got the feeling we weren't the only ones pranked." Steve replied, as he lifted into the air and flew off to Alex's house.

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:13pm; Canton, Ohio)

In the 11th street area of Canton, Paula apparently had bought her own house to live in for the time being. It was a kind of two-story apartment. The lower floor was actually relatively clean, and didn't need much renovating, but the upper floor was a mess, and she was only wondering how she'd try to repair all of that. She had moved some stuff in and most of her time had been spent setting the place up. Paula was now sitting in her bedroom meditating on her bed. She had nothing else to do for the moment since coming back from Clint's punishment.

She wondered about that kid sometimes. They seemed to have a chaotic relationship for whatever reason. Their first meeting resulted with Clint being bonked unconscious by her on accident, and then she learned of him being in cahoots with Jason's little chipmunk-voice scheme, and had to again bash him twice, and then use her PK Fire skill to heat him up a little as extra punishment. She wondered when the next time she'd have to take action because of his, or his friends little schemes. It was starting to break her concentration, and it showed.

Paula grumbled to herself, "Clint, you can be so unpredictable, as can many of your friends. My life's going to get more and more unpredictable by the moment, and I'm not too fond of that notion..."

Suddenly, she was knocked out of her self-monologue by the ringing of her kitchen phone.

She went up and walked into the kitchen and picked it up, "Um, hello?"

The voice on the other end with somewhat high-pitched, but was similar again to the voices at Alex, Nina and Dusty's houses. The prankster must've been making his or her move again. Of course, Paula wouldn't know this yet.

"Hello, my name is James Stoneword. I am a reporter at the Canton Repository." the voice said.

"Um, okay. Can I do something for you?" she asked back, noticing the number on her caller ID phone.

She knew that after all the attention she got back in her hometown Twoson, it was a necessity to know if someone was authentic. "Well, I noticed you tend to have a strange background, one that seems to scream supernatural to me. Anyways, I wondered if you were interested in a job as a medium."

Paula's eyes narrowed, _What the heck? No one here's really aware of my psychic abilities except Goku and MAYBE Piccolo, and even then, they'd never mention anything unless I wanted them to._ "Okay, explain why you think I'd make a good medium?" Paula asked, her tone sounding slightly more annoyed, but the voice didn't seem to catch on.

Apparently it didn't matter to the person, because the next line would destroy his credibility as a reporter, "Because your a retard, dur dur!" and she heard the voice slam the phone down quickly.

Paula grumbled, "Incompetent. That guy's the retarded one. I hate prank callers! Apparently he doesn't know how to mask himself, because I got his phone number down." she smiled to herself, almost a smirk.

The number '_**(330) 484-5607**_' was still displayed on the LCD on her phone.

She wrote down the number and put it in her handbag. "This guy must know us, or at least know something about us, if he called with such knowledge, and assumption of my powers. I'd better call around to see if anyone else might know something."

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:25pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at Alex's house, he, Vernon and Devin were preparing to go over to Goku and Vegeta's for a short moment. Alex said something about lending his PS2 to Goku a while back, and that they might be able to get in some game time before Devin and Vernon had to head home to rest for their return to school the next morning. However before he could do as much as open the door, the phone in their front room rang.

"Oh no. It'd better not be some stupid prank again." Alex grumbled and picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Alex." Paula replied on the other end.

"Hey, what're you doing on here?" Alex asked.

"I need to ask a question. Have you gotten any calls from someone named James Stoneword?" Paula asked back.

"Uh, no... why?"

"Because the guy seems to know something about me that I haven't told any of you, except that it doesn't sound anything like he's a reporter at the Repository."

"Uh? When were you called by the Repository!" asked Alex.

"It wasn't them. It was some idiot prankster calling me, Alex."

"Speak of the devil... Vernon, Devin and I just got pranked twice about 20-25 minutes ago. First it was some dude from ACME Incorporation, and then the next person said they were representing the HFIL." Alex replied.

"I think you might have gotten hit by the same person then. I called Dusty up a few minutes ago, and he says someone called and pranked Dwayne and Steve. He also tells me Steve's on his way over there to ask you a few questions." Paula replied.

"I guess that ruins our plans for the night. Stupid prankers. I wonder who this asshole is?" Alex wondered out loud.

"Well, if it helps, I DID get his caller ID when he called, but the name was unlisted. I still have the number, and I'll come over there and meet up with you in a bit to give it to you. Let Steve know what I told you on Dusty's end, okay?" Paula replied.

"Okay then, see you in a bit." Alex replied, and Paula hung up on his, and he put the phone down.

"What happened, Alex?" Devin asked.

"Paula called. Said our prankster got to her as well, as well as the Rock and Stone Cold. Stone Cold's on his way here to ask us what we might know, and Paula's on her way with the fucker's number. She nailed him with her caller ID. Said he was pretending to be some reporter at the Repository asking her about something of hers. I don't all the details, and it doesn't matter at the moment." Alex replied.

"Well, that sucks. Our night is ruined." Vernon replied.

"Same here, Vernon." Alex grumbled.

About seconds later, Stone Cold landed in front of Alex's porch and then Radditz landed behind him, them having apparently met on the way, getting their attention. Devin, being closest to the door, let them in quickly.

"Dwayne and Dusty sent me here, because we need to know if you've been making any prank calls, or have been getting any." Steve said, right to the point.

"Well, we were waiting for you. Yes, we did get two prank calls. One from ACME, and one apparently from the HFIL." Devin explained.

"The same asshole called me acting like he was from Hell!" Radditz growled, "I thought it was real, but it seems we've all been duped by some idiot with a funny bone."

"Argh, it had better not be Jason or Clint again! The voice serum was enough, and if it is those two clowns, I'll give them something to prank us about!" Devin growled.

"Well, Paula's on her way. She apparently also got hit by the prankster. BUT she has their number via caller ID." Alex replied.

"I wish that moron had called Dwayne and I on our cells. At least we would've also gotten an ID if that had been." Stone Cold grumbled, "I'm gonna call him down here. I'm sure he'll want to help deliver justice, because now that we might have a phone number, we can pay the asshole a visit and we can introduce Austin 3:16 on his candy ass!" Stone Cold said, and then slapped his hand on his forehead in annoyance, "Damn! I just used one of Dwayne's dialogues!"

Devin and Vernon chuckled a little, and Alex stifled some laughter, as Steve grumbled and dialed up Dwayne's cellphone.

Suddenly, a reply: "Hello, The Rock here. If this is a prank call, you can stuff it up your roody-poo..."

"ROCK! It's me! I think we have a lead on the prankster, and I need you to come down here and help us when we find him." Steve interrupted before Dwayne could do his introduction dialogue.

Dwayne smiled on the other end, "I'll be right over there in 10 minutes." he said, and disconnected.

After another 5 minutes of idle chatter, Paula landed on the porch.

The door being opened, she walked in and said, "Hey, I'm here with the number. I need to know if any of you recognize it. I don't know all of our phone numbers yet." she took out the paper and handed it to Devin, Alex and Vernon.

Devin grumbled, "I swear, if Clint or Jason is responsible, I'll..."

"It's not Clint then. I know his number, and this one doesn't match it." Paula interrupted.

The three boys looked it over, but only Alex's eyes widened in realization, "Oh god no! Not HIM! How the hell could HE pull something like that off! Paula are you sure this is the right number?" Alex grumbled to her.

"Yes, I'm quite sure. I was staring at it since he started his dumb little joke, so I know for sure. I take it you know this guy. Is it Jason?" she asked.

"No... even Jason... even Vernon and Devin... they can't be as annoying to me most of the time as HE can." Alex replied.

"WHAT! You don't mean that it's..." Devin growled, but was cut off by Alex again, "Yes... it is Devin."

"DAMMIT!" Devin growled in anger.

Vernon realized who Alex was referring to, "Wow... I didn't think he had it in him myself. I'm impressed, yet still agitated at the same time."

Dwayne then landed on the porch and entered, and decided to talk in normal persona, "I miss anything?"

"Just that Alex, Devin and Vernon recognized who this damned idiot is. They haven't said it to us yet, but..." Steve replied.

Alex turned around and grumbled, "I hate to say this but... we've been pranked by none other than..."

(September 10, 2001 A.D.; 7:32pm; Canton, Ohio)

In the middle portions of East Sparta, Ohio, only a couple miles away from Alex, Clint, Devin and Vernon's home, and inside another house, laughter echoes from inside a small room in the basement. In the basement, the outline of a very portly person is seen in the shadows, laughing really corny laughter, and looking plain out proud of himself. The person is 5'5", 14 years old, a Freshmen at Canton South High School, and quite fat, and would make Devin and Dusty look skinny in comparison. He was holding a phone book in hand, and looking around for various phone numbers, but not just any numbers...

No, he was looking for the Misfits' phone numbers, his _allies'_ phone numbers. The kid growled: he and his 'friends' had been in each other's company a couple of short weeks, and despite his fatness and supposed retarded acts, they had "cautiously" accepted him into their crowd. Cautiously being the key word. Many of the other Misfits, especially Alex, but not so much Clint or Dusty, preferred to be as far away from his as possible when he was being stupid. He grumbled to himself again, after he had denied Clint's offer to go to Japan, not caring much about the idea of going, he was annoyed to learn that they had never returned to school after their return over a week ago.

He had meandered around over time, learning more or less the truth, and that his friends had met other friends, and that they never told him! That pissed the kid off to no extent. He should've at least introduced him to these other people, but his fellow Misfits had more or less abandoned him, and he also know known of Radditz staying at Nina's, and The Rock and Stone Cold staying at Dusty's house. How he had gotten Paula's number though, was only something he and he alone knew.

Virgil Jones thought, _These pranks I started up on them might jog their memory that I'm not gone by a long shot. Rather they care enough to beat me down about it if they find out, I could care less. Perhaps once I get their attention again, I can remind them that I also helped them get to where they are as well._

Virgil could not use ki, fly, or even fight the way the others did, but he couldn't give a damn less apparently, and he was about to put that test to the theory, when he heard a loud knock from upstairs. He had looked out the basement window, and saw Alex, Vernon, Devin, Stone Cold, The Rock, Radditz and Paula landing on his lawn, and knew it was time to face his destiny. Virgil smirked a sadistic, almost masochist grin, and tromped up the stairs. He wasn't going to get his mom at work involved. He would just let them handle his punishment. For some reason, he realized he wasn't scared of them anymore, not the way he used to be when he first met them. Virgil grabbed the door knob and opened it casually, looking over to Alex, Vernon and Devin, recognizing them almost perfect from the last time he had seen them.

He then saw Radditz, Steve, Dwayne and Paula, and then he smiled, "Well, what can I do for YOU?" he asked.

Alex's eye twitched, "We seemed to have a bone to pick with you, Virgil... buddy... pal... friend of ours..."

Virgil smirked inwards, but remained stoic on the outside, "Oh really? Exactly what did I do that got you seven so mad at me?"

Dwayne spoke up next: "You called me and Steve, said I was a fat jabroni, and said Steve listens to Backstreet Boys," he spoke it deathly calm, almost happily, as if he was about to enjoy what he had planned, "Also, apparently you called Alex, Devin and Vernon twice, Radditz once, and posed as a reporter and called Paula here. We're not exactly happy about your pranks... Virgil."

"Hahahaha!" Virgil laughed out loud, surprising most everyone and some of them react with surprise, "That's right, I pranked you seven, didn't I? Didn't I! Hahahaha! Finally I got your attention again! It's been so long since you guys came to school." his expression then turned dead serious, "I was getting worried. Everyone was getting worried. There's a reason I pranked you guys. Not because I did it for kicks, but to get your attention. I see I succeeded, so I guess you want to punish me for it right." Virgil then finished, in almost a taunt.

Alex growled, and charged in at Virgil, giving him the hardest kick to the side he could without killing him, knocking Virgil to the side, crashing on the ground, and giving him nasty bruise, "I can't believe you'd do that just for attention, you fat fag!" Devin walked in next and picked up Virgil, taking him outside into his yard.

Virgil, bruised and hurt a little, laughed, "Your turn, huh fatty?" he taunted.

Devin growled, "Shut up, Virgil." he pulled Virgil to his feet, and give a kick directly to the stomach, and then grabbed Virgil's head, like he was going to perform a Stunner on him, but instead flipped Virgil over and slammed him on the ground. He then rolled up his sleeve and did an imitation of the People's Elbow, hurting Virgil worse, and then walking off, satisfied.

Virgil coughed up a bit of blood, and Vernon walked over him, but rolled his eyes, "No Virgil. I could care less about beating you up. I can punish you much worse in other ways. Besides, Alex is the one I'll beat up another day, not you." Vernon walked off past him, while Alex growled at Vernon, both for his challenge, and lack of punishing Virgil.

Radditz walked up over Virgil, and lifted him up into the air, "Man, he's heavier than you, Devin, by a long shot!" he stated, and Devin grumbled at Radditz.

The older Saiya-jin simply tossed Virgil up a few dozen feet into the air, and jumped back, letting Virgil crash into the ground, making a small indent in the ground in his shape. Virgil was practically unconscious by now, but The Rock lifted him to his feet, and quickly performed a Rock Bottom on him, doing a little more damage. Stone Cold then picked him up, and kicked him in the stomach like Devin, but instead actually did the Stunner.

Paula walked up to him, the last one with any say in the matter. She reached into her handbag, and pulled up various cosmetic accessories, including makeup, bows, and even a small tea party hat. Alex stifled a laugh, realizing she was aiming on hurting Virgil mentally when he awoke. "You guys go on ahead, you got your revenge. Now I'll finish it up here." she said to them.

The other six grunted in affirmation, and took off into the air, most of them satisfied that their work had been done. When they were out of range, Paula picked up Virgil, which to the common bystander would've looked impossible.

She cringed slightly at his odor, "Man, do you ever take a bath, Virgil? If you did, people might actually warm up to you..." she stated, and took Virgil, and her accessories for his punishment, into the house as night fully claimed the day...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1** Yes, Alex has really said this in real life. I got it recorded somewhere if anyone really wants proof :P

**2** This is a dub-related joke. In the dub versions, there is a part in one of the first episodes of Z when Piccolo first meets Radditz. He fires a colossal blast at Radditz, but it does no damage. Radditz jokes something along the lines of "Goodness! You've managed to singe some of my leg hairs." :P


	7. Part 6: We Will Never Forget

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa © Me  
-----------------------------  
(IMPORTANT NOTE: This part covers over the day of 9-11, and is mainly in a way a retelling of the events. The disaster is integrated with Misfits due to it's time proximity and the fact the series is also based off of real life. In no way are any of the major attacks changed in any way during the story, despite this version also having one additional attack that only occurs in the story. Thank you. :P)  
-----------------------------

**Part 6 - We Will Never Forget...**

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 4:26am; Canton, Ohio)

Clint was still sleeping in his bed, with the lights off, and nighttime still present on the outside. Dawn would break soon enough, and only moments later... **BZZZZZZZZZT** Clint woke up half-groggily and smacked his snore button on his analog alarm clock. He grumbled and snuggled back under the sheets. However, only a couple minutes later the door to his room opened, and his mom walked into room, turning on the light.

"Clint, time to get up! Don't want to miss your first day back since your vacation, do you!"

Clint forced his eyes open as much as he could, only to wince at the light in his eyes.

"I'm coming... coming mom." Clint said flatly as his mom left the room, closing the door behind him. Clint slowly got out of bed, and began to change into his clothes.

He knew he had to use something more normal than simple training clothes, since he wasn't going to train most of the day. After all that had occurred, he had sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his computer and turning on the monitor, always leaving the computer on overnight to give him alerts of stuff that had been going on while he was asleep. He checked his e-mail, which had mainly junk mail, and nothing worth interest. He then checked various websites of his he always went to, not finding anything too terribly interesting as well.

"Great... a dull night... probably going to be the same at school. I wonder if I should actually fly to school...? I know mom and dad wouldn't care too much. I just hope I don't fall asleep and crash into a mountain or another house..." Clint said, noting that his parents were for the most part fully aware of the events that happened to him in Japan.

They weren't the most impressed at his little trick alongside Jason, but they had also knew the punishment Paula gave him was minor for the level of strength he had now, telling her to make sure he didn't do anything too crazy. In fact, both of his parents were trying to get him to teach THEM how to fly. However he explained that even though he probably could, that most average level humans wouldn't be able to fly very long at a time even if they knew.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 5:46am; Canton, Ohio)

Deciding to actually eat a small bowl of cereal, Clint had gone into his front room, noticing his mother had apparently gone back to bed, trusting him to get out to school on his own.

"I guess it won't matter if I ask them or not this time." Clint mused, and poured himself a bowl of Cookie Crisp, which he consumed in less than 10 minutes. He was also constantly harassed by his dogs, Bonnie and Gunner. Bonnie was a 17-year old German Shepard who was apparently starting to be on her last legs, and Gunner was a 5 year old Labrador Retriever, chocolate colored, and a hyperactive food-a-holic himself. He fed both dogs some food after Gunner almost jumped around enough to shake the house, which would've gotten his parents up, and Gunner yelled at big time.

He had only 45-50 minutes before he had to be out at the bus stop... _ Duh! I could probably get there in only 5 minutes now. But maybe I should at least fly along the old route for some nostalgia._

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 6:40am; Canton, Ohio)

At his own house, Alex had given his bus station a call, letting his driver know that he did not need to go and pick him up that morning. He had no qualms with flying to school. He figured that with his new powers that he could easily get there, not to mention freak out some people who were annoying him at the same time, if needed. Of course, he was still a bit groggy, and planning to sleep later on during his study hall with his teacher Mr. Danaska. Alex wasn't too terribly keen on going to school, and would rather train with Goku and Vegeta next door, but the elder Saiya-jin, specifically Goku had told him that training all the time made one a dull boy, in his words, plus he said Vegeta and him were interested in doing other stuff today anyways, and had been planning this day for a while.

Alex grumbled, "Why couldn't you two at least come with us to school? It's gonna be so sucky and boring today, it isn't funny."

Alex grumbled to himself, as he took off into the air, and flew off slowly toward his school. Despite never going there by air, he still had a good idea where to go, and with how fast he could go now compared to before, he could get there in under 5 minutes.

He couldn't help but wonder along the way, _I wonder what the others are saying about having to go back today?_ as he vanished off into the horizon...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:02am; Canton, Ohio)

Airborne and heading towards Canton South High School came Clint, having flew over his bus, 17, as it had come below into his neighborhood of Fohl Village to pick up the other passengers. He had keep extremely high up so no one on the bus would see him, even if they wouldn't be able to identify him immediately. He had realized how much he truly liked flying as he flew through the early morning sky.

It was a different experience seeing everything he normally looked at from a airborne perspective. He was now hovering over area he knew well enough, and decided to fly off well ahead the bus as it turned on Cleveland Ave. and flew straight towards his destination.

Canton South High School was primarily built of red bricks along the outside walls, while on the inside most of it wasn't your common red hue. Various parts of the school were also newer than others, especially the backside of the school, outlaying their track and football field, which Clint mused Vernon would always run around at. He wondered if Vernon was planning to show off to his peers today with his newer physical abilities.

He decided to quickly land over by a hidden nook near the baseball field on the eastern side of the school, and walked out, now lugging his long backpack over his shoulder. It was more like a sports bag than an normal backpack, but it suited him well, and he had also put some extra weights in it to fit in some minor training while he lugged it around.

He decided to meander along normally for the time being and acting as if he was just coming in by foot, going around the side by the football field, and looking over to his weight room, along the left side of the building in the area he was at. He peered in the window, but he only saw a couple of students, and not Mr. Mike Miller, the weightlifting teacher who was in charge of the room. He decided to go around to the west side of the school, which was where all the buses gathered to drop the kids off for school. It also was more or less where the cafeteria was, which he always stopped inside at first, to get a bite to eat. He took out $7.50 and walked in, getting a strange look from one of the nearby teachers, who usually saw him getting off bus #17, except that that bus had not yet stopped by...

As Clint was walking inside, a strange black-colored bus was beginning to pull up to the parking lot of the school. The bus apparently had various symbols on the side, one of them being what looked like a bull tattoo, and another being something that said "Austin 3:16". And also the 'WWE' symbol was plastered on the front hood of the bus.

Many students, being fans of the WWE, were easily distracted by this, watching the bus stop, and the doors open. Suddenly, dressed to their fullest, yet in the most common outfits you could think of for celebrities, the Rock and Stone Cold walked off the bus, The Rock wearing dark sunglasses with an tropical t-shirt, and just happening to be carrying a biography on him called "The Rock Says" on the cover. Stone Cold was wearing an "Austin 3:16" shirt with the skull emblem on the back, and on the front, and also a cap with the "WWE" symbol on it.

Behind them also walked out Dusty, also wearing various Rock, Stone Cold and general WWE merchandise, at least what could be worn without getting into a heap of trouble with the school board. Dusty looked both surprised, shocked and ecstatic. That morning he had learned that the surprise they had been talking about was them coming to the school with him, to meet up with the local teenage population at the closest school, CSHS happening to be the place.

The student body stared at the three of them in surprise, "Dusty?" a couple had noticed him, since Dusty was quite known around the school, especially for his talent of cooking in the school's restaurant, the "Heritage Room".

They also knew he was a big wrestling fan, but they had never expected him to actually ride into school on a WWE tour bus.

"Whassup, everyone! I've come with a nice surprise that'll make this day a much cooler one! I'm sure many of you know my two friends, but I'll let them introduce themselves if they want." Dusty smirked as he looked back to Steve and Dwayne, who smirked identically to him, and Dwayne had taken out a microphone to begin to speak, when suddenly they were interrupted by Devin and Vernon landing only a few feet away nearby. Many of the students minusDusty and also Clint did a double take seeing them land in front of them so suddenly.

"Dusty, why are they here?" Devin was curious at seeing Dwayne and Steve here.

"We had this little excursion planned a few days back. We recalled you were going to have to come back here again sometime, so we decided that if in case none of you come back again for a while, that the day you do have here will be less boring than normal." Steve replied, almost sounding a bit like Dusty in the process.

Vernon looked indifferent, "Right then. I guess I'll be off to Mr. Summer's class. I'll talk to you later, Devin."

"See ya then." Devin replied back casually, heading towards the cafeteria, knowing Clint would likely be there chowing down on some egg and cheese hot-pockets, like he normally did.

Devin entered and found Clint near the back of the cafeteria, doing almost exactly as he had expected. However as he got closer, he noticed Clint had only gotten two pockets instead of the usual four he got. Sometimes Devin wondered with the amount Clint ate in the morning that if he could be a demi saiya-jin.

"Hey, you're not hogging down today." Devin joked at him. Clint was already aware of Devin, and had also caught the commotion with the Dwayne, Steve and Dusty.

"So, a few stowaways tagged along, huh?" Clint replied back, looking at the Wrestlers and Dusty, with a large teenage group around them.

"Yeah, Austin said it was to make the day more interesting." Devin replied.

"Well, Alex might be feeling better then. I don't think he's gonna want to come in today." Clint stated.

Devin laughed, "Well that boy has a superiority complex, Clint. We all know that. He thinks he a pampered little prince sometimes."

"Yeah, he's almost like Vegeta, not to mention he IS a saiya-jin now, apparently." Clint replied. Devin mentally grumbled. As far as he knew, he had no alien origins, but he noticed Clint didn't either, apparently, so he guessed it wasn't so bad. However if Alex being saiya-jin wasn't bad enough, he also knew Vernon was as well now, so that had made him a little jealous of the two.

"You know, I wonder if we're Saiya-jin at all?" Devin asked, "Or at least not so human."

Clint acknowledged him with a nod, but silently wondered the same thing himself, "I take it you wish you weren't human, so you have more fighting potential, right?" he asked.

"Well, look at Vernon and Alex. We know from their transformation to Super Saiya-jin that they have to be Saiya-jin. I haven't seen me, you, Dan, Dusty, Jason or Nina make any transformation." Devin replied back, disappointed.

"Devin, Nina's not really human either through..." Clint corrected him.

Devin winced, forgetting for a moment Nina was in fact not human. Nina had actually come to them by what some believe as a freak act of fate. She had recently told them she was a race of human/bird known as the Windia-jin. Their race had both two major qualities over humans. One was that they, like real birds, possessed the power of natural flight. Despite having learned Bukujutsu, which Goku and Vegeta called flying with ki, Nina could already fly with her own wings. The second difference was a major difference in height. Windian people were normally 6 to 14 full inches taller than the average human. Nina herself was a whopping 6 feet and 6 inches, making her even taller than Jason, the tallest of the other Misfits. Even now, only Piccolo was taller than her by almost a full foot. "

Sorry Clint, sometimes I tend to forget about that little detail. Just how DID Nina find us? She's never gotten into full detail on where she comes from. I know she's not from Earth... she said she came from another world of sorts, but... that confuses me... just how did she get to us months before the 'Tokyo Incident'?" Devin asked out loud in thought, referring to the merger in Japan, which he always called by that name.

Clint wasn't quite so confused. He didn't know the whole story down to the last detail, but he knew now more of the basic idea of what she had gone through than he had back when the merger had occurred, but he wanted to ask her personally before he said something possibly false. He realized that in Goku and Vegeta some things seemed a bit off about them compared to Dragonball Z itself, the show the two were thought to come from, such as Paula and Goku claiming to be friends.

"You know, kinda makes me wonder why Goku, Vegeta, Radditz, Piccolo and #17 didn't decide to come as well..." Clint mused out loud.

"I guess they wanted a break from the hell of training us. Especially with Alex and Vernon involved. Those two can definitely wear you out with constant exposure. And in Alex's case, it was BEFORE Nina healed him, and now he's even worse, especially with his new training." Devin said, referring to another thing Nina had brought with her.

Apparently wherever she came from, she had knowledge of various magic. Nina had specifically revealed it to them when she shrunk Vernon and Alex once and threatened to feed them to her cat. It had been the same ability that had brought Radditz to the other Misfits on accident. Also, the other major thing she did was healing Alex of a disability that vastly hindered his ability to walk. Alex was still trying to get fully over that little problem as they spoke, but now that Alex could walk normal, it was even harder to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:10am; Canton, Ohio)

And as if one could speak of the devil himself, Alex had just recently landed outside of the school on the parking lot, not caring if anyone jumped up in surprise.

He saw The Rock and Stone Cold with Dusty outside of the cafeteria entrance, and had gone to them, "Dusty, what're they..."

Dwayne interrupted him first, "We had this planned for several days. Let's just say Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock have plans today for this school, Alex."

Alex smirked, "Well, maybe this day won't be so bad after all. You three have fun with the local peasantry. I'm going in to see Clint and Devin, and get some food!" Alex said, now hungry and bolting inside of the school.

He was still getting looks at him from time to time, as they had known him best for the wheelchair he had used to roll in on. He had been the only student with one, and it made him stand out a lot. Hell, Clint and him remembered meeting that way a long time ago, in Ms. Litterdale's art class, and then Alex had gotten Clint into Dragonball Z, and it had also strengthened their bond with their other fellow "Original Misfits". Alex used that name when referring to himself, Clint, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dan, Dusty, Virgil and even Nina, despite the latter not being from Earth.

However it had also been she who had founded the Misfits from the start, giving all of them that name, as to refer to their social differences and digressions from society. Alex believed that the group name now fit them ever better than ever, considering they were now all much stronger than other people, with the possible exception of Virgil, but Alex didn't care much about him at the time, especially after his little prank the day before. Alex had seen Clint and Devin, still sorta blabbing about him and the other originals. Clint gave Devin a slight twitch in his eye that Alex didn't catch. It was his way of telling Devin to look behind him.

Devin did just that, seeing Alex walking in, "Well, speak of the devil." Devin grumbled a little, "Here he comes to wreck the day!" he then added in a slight sing-song voice.

"Nice to see you too, Devin." Alex droned in a slightly annoyed voice, dropping his bookbag on the table where he planned to sit, and going off to get some food.

"He looks normal, actually." Clint stated.

"Yeah, well Dwayne and Steve are by the entrance, so it's impossible for him to have missed them." Devin replied.

Alex soon came back out with his food, including some orange juice and a couple of the same egg and cheese pockets Clint had been eating.

"So, you ready for today?" Clint asked Alex.

Alex looked at him and said, "Bleh, it's still gonna be a sucky, boring day regardless of rather the wrestlers are here or not."

Devin sighed irritably, "Well, excuse us for checking up on everyone, and letting them know personally that we didn't die."

Alex snorted, "Devin, why should we care what they think of us? We're much better than they are, especially me." Alex ended with a bit of arrogance in his voice.

Clint just rolled his eyes, "Whatever Alex... just don't let that ego go into overdrive. We may be stronger, but we're still within the law."

Alex grumbled back, "Why should we care about the rules! I'm a free spirit, Clint! Maybe the rest of you guys are that way, but I want to exercise my right of power."

"That's just fine Alex, but just don't do something you'll regret." Clint added back, "Like seriously injuring or killing someone. I heard you guys went after Virgil for some prank calling he did. Paula told me he was badly banged up, and that both of you overdid it too much." he added, now to both Alex and Devin.

"Maybe I DID go overboard. I wasn't trying to put that much power into it, but still, he did it just for attention. He wasn't even primarily trying to annoy us. If that was his intention, why didn't he just find some less-annoying way to reveal himself?" Devin answered with his own question on the end.

"Devin, Virgil's a fat retard. He's fatter than you, and to make it worse, he was once skinny. You've always been chubby as far as I've known you. Virgil was actually THIN once. He was even really smart back then. He ran frickin' circles around me in school, especially in math! Now look at him... Clint, I know you don't know much about Virgil, considering you mainly lived in the Canton City District, but Virgil was much different back then than you might have known. Maybe looking at him now and then back then gets me so mad at him. Also, don't worry about me killing someone. I'm not that bad." Alex replied.

"Fine..." Clint decided to just end it there, now remember his own journey to being a Misfit.

Clint had remembered that he had lived in the main part of Canton for the majority of his life, up until he had become 14 or 15. It had been in late 1999, around the time of the Columbine Shootings in Littleton, Colorado when he had first come to Canton South, moving there due to the death of his grandfather in December 1998 and inheriting his trailer in Fohl Village.

Alex hadn't even arrived there yet, a grade behind him, and Clint had been introduced to Devin and Vernon first, as well as one of the teachers he knew the most, a man known as Mr. Paul Summers, and his assistant, Ms. Patti Stryker. He didn't immediately blend in with Devin and Vernon, but he adapted well to Mr. Summers and Ms. Stryker, and they had even come up with some interesting jokes just for him.

He remembered how Ms. Stryker always called him "Clint-meister". However Clint also remembered that he had never crossed paths with any of his fellow Misfits in the past, since they had lived in the Canton South district. He especially missed some of his other friends in the Canton City district, but he realized that he was going down a better path at South, despite his moderate dislike for the area he lived in.

Now that he could fly, he was beginning to deal with getting around much better than he used to, and was actually getting out better than before. He remembered how active he was physically as a child, back in Canton as well. But he decided to get off those thoughts, as he noticed Dan had come, and was now walking over to them with Dusty, Dwayne and Steve, and all four sat down at the table with Devin, Clint and Alex.

"Well, what're you three talking about?" Dusty asked, noticing a bit of a debate or argument going on between the other three.

"Mainly about morals with our newer powers. I don't want Alex mainly overdoing it and hurting someone else." Clint replied back.

Dusty looked at Alex and smirked, "Indeed, I know how he can be sometimes. Even when he doesn't try he sometimes overdoes it."

Alex looked back at him, "Well, at least I can do more here than you all can, except maybe Vernon, but he's gay anyways."

Dusty rolled his eyes, "Well, I just hope you remember how close I came to defeating you when we were kids."

Alex growled at that remark, as Dusty was referring to a time in their past when they were kids. They had used to be neighbors, and Dusty had infact once lived in the house that Goku and Vegeta were now occupying. In those days, Dusty was more a bully figure, and had once sat on Alex's head, and dunking it into the fishing pond behind his house, almost drowning him once. They had gotten over that event, but Dusty always brought it up when Alex got overly confident.

_Now I have another reason to train more, so I can get him back someday for it!_ Alex thought to himself in anger. "One day I'll make you eat those words." he said, although not in such a hateful voice, but more a challenging one.

"Bring it on, monkey boy. You might have learned energy attacks, but I've got a few little tricks up my sleeve, and not to mention Dwayne and Steve have been training me." Dusty replied.

"Whatever, I could probably perfect their attacks without their help!" Alex growled back, then turning to the two wrestlers in question, "No offense of course, you two."

"Good luck learning some of our NEW abilities, since we taught Dusty a few of ours, we're developing new moves to make up for it." Steve replied back.

"I'll figure them out too eventually! I can learn any attack I see!" Alex boasted proudly.

Devin, Clint, Dan and Dusty just rolled their eyes.

_Well Alex, I wonder if I should use 'it' on you... no, no I won't. You haven't annoyed me just yet, but it's too bad you don't have your wheelchair anymore, else I could do what I did last year._ Dan though to himself, referring to a joke he played on Alex the year before in the lunch room, putting a small water balloon in Alex's wheelchair just before Alex could sit in it. It had gotten his pants almost soaked, and Alex had not been happy with Dan for the incident, and Dan still wondered if Alex was going to try to get him back for it now that he had trained.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:18am; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, Jason had done much similar to the others, and had just flew to school that day. He didn't care if anyone saw him or not, because he was in a hurry to get the day over with. He wasn't planning to come back for a while after the day was over due to his training schedule. He quickly entered the northern entrance across from the cafeteria where Clint and the others were, and quickly turned the corner inside and went up the steps. At the top of the first flight of steps Jason walked down the hallway, to his locker, and opened it within a few seconds, putting his essentials into it, and taking out his school supplies, which had slightly began to collect dust. He then closed the locker, and continued down to the end of the corner, where there was a door on the left. He opened the door and walked in.

The room was mostly rectangular and large, with many desks at various parts of the room, as well as strange collages on the wall with pictures of various things. Among them, apparently Jason, Vernon, Clint, Virgil and Devin had made a few of them, Devin's being filled with cars and girls, as well as most of the others. Alex's had a combination of games, girls and anime. There were also two larger desks on the other end of the room from the door. Both had computer monitors and keyboards on them, and at the one to Jason's left sat a woman in her 30s, writing on something important looking, and once in a while grumbling about something, and on his right was Vernon, already sitting down in a seat somewhat close to the door.

"Hey Vernon." Jason said first.

"Jason." Vernon replied back in a one-word reply he was known for using.

Jason then turned to the woman at the other desk, "What's up Ms. Stryker?"

Patti Stryker looked up from her desk, "Jason! So nice to see you again. I wondered where you and Vernon had gone!"

"Sorry... it's a long story, and I'm not sure we're ready to give all of the explanation. Some of it would be hard to believe." Vernon replied.

"Hey Vernon, is Devin, Clint, or Alex here as well?" Ms. Stryker asked.

"Devin came here with me this morning, and I think I saw Alex go into the cafeteria. Of course, now that he doesn't need his wheelchair, it's not so easy to pick him out." Vernon replied back.

"That's true. But have you guys seen your winged friend yet today?" Patti then asked back.

"Nina? Not yet, but I'm sure she'll be here. Also, you may not believe this yet, but we got some guest celebrities at school today that arrived with Dusty." Jason replied.

"I heard from Mr. Knight about The Rock and Steve Austin already. Mr. Summers also did, and he should be coming in a few minutes." Ms. Stryker replied.

"Wait a minute... isn't Virgil supposed to be here?" Jason asked.

"Virgil won't likely be coming in." Vernon replied, "At least he'll be late, I know that much."

Suddenly, the door opened again, and walked in another man, about 5'10" to 6' even. He had short orange-red hair, almost to the point of being bald, also with a Mark Mc-quire look to him, a medium-thick mustache, and a slightly portly build. He also had what appeared to be an almost permanent semi-smirk on his face.

Vernon and Jason looked at him closely, as the man noticed them and spoke, "Well well well. Look who decided to come back after almost 2 weeks!"

"Long time no see, Mr. Summers." Jason replied with a trace of his usual goofiness.

"Yeah, long story about our absence." Vernon replied back.

Mr. Paul Summers looked at them with that odd smirk on his face, "Well, do tell some time, you two. I'm sure it's more worth it than being in ISS all week."

Vernon and Jason cringed inside, "We're sorry about the absence. Things lately have been draining us of our time in general." Jason then replied.

Just then, the door opened a third time, and Clint walked in, followed by Devin, who was apparently only going in for a few moments to drop off something in the room.

"Well, if it isn't Devin and 'Skippy'!" Mr. Summers greeted, calling Clint by the latter name.

Ms. Stryker looked up at Clint and smiled, "Heeey Clint-meister, long time no see!"

Clint looked to both teachers, "Hey all. Sorry I've been gone a while. The last few days have been hectic." Clint replied, and then looked to Jason and Vernon, as he pulled out a note in his pocket, "You two give him your notes yet?"

Vernon and Jason blanched a second, and would've smacked their heads had they not been in public, digging into the pockets, and also pulling out notes, and giving them to Mr. Summers. He took all three and read them, with a analytical look on his face.

He then smiled briefly back at them again, "All right, I guess that'll work." Clint, Jason and Vernon sighed in relief.

Devin looked over to Mr. Summers, "Don't worry, I'll give mine to the auto teacher when I arrive. Alex has his on him for Mr. Miller, and Virgil's out sick I think. I haven't seen him yet today." _As if he'll even be able to move that much the way we nailed him last night..._ Devin then afterthought.

"I'll talk to you later then, Devin. Good day in auto class, and make sure if you can, that The Rock, Stone Cold and Dusty don't screw around too much. I heard they're planning some party in the Heritage Room with Mr. Blike today." Mr. Summers replied.

"Okay then." Devin replied and walked out.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:22am; Canton, Ohio)

Nina was usually one of the later arrivals to Canton South, due to the fact she didn't prefer dealing with all the crowds in the morning and waited until about the time of the first bells in the morning. She had been flying southwards at somewhat high speed, knowing she would need to be there in about 10 minutes. She wondered what everyone else would say about her and the others being gone all this time. Nina's role at CSHS was a wildcard.

She wasn't really a student there in any way shape or form. She had more or less been led to the other Original Misfits by fate and visions. She recalled her journey through the depths of the Infinity Path on her own world, learning that within the deep bowels of the path lie other gateways leading to worlds beyond normal comprehension. She also remembered how she had been on her soul search, and had been led to the gate to Earth, and how it closed on her after going in.

She had to fend for herself for a while, eventually getting a house in the 29th street district of North East Canton. She then recalled she had followed a faint signal of sorts to CSHS one day, leading her to Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan and Virgil. She had remembered how the entire student body reacted to her. Many of them were freaked out, others were just stunned. Some even thought she was a freak human, not believing that her kind could really exist. Nina grumbled at that, she had once started out a much nicer person before, but her journey had made her a bit more rough around the edges, and she even drank liquor once in a while, gaining the habit from a friend of hers from her own world.

She wondered why she even still went to CSHS. She was more a bystander that kept tabs on her friends than anything else, and once in a while she would assist other teachers, such as Mr. Summers, Ms. Stryker, and another recent addition for the year, an art teacher named Mr. Christopher Bergert. It was in fact Mr. Bergert that was responsible for the change in Clint's art style, allowing him to enter the picture that won them the Toonami Pick-an-Engine contest, and then the merger itself.

Nina sighed with a half-bitter smile on her face. "Here I come to wreck the day..." she said to herself, using a modified line off of Devin.

However as she moved closer to CSHS, she saw something in the air up in the distance. It looked to be a figure, flying much like she was, through Bukujutsu. She then zoomed up a little for a closer look. The figure was wearing pink, and had medium-length blonde hair.

_That must be Paula up there, but where's she going? It almost seems like she's going to CSHS as well._ Nina thought to herself. To Nina, Paula was kinda a kindred spirit. They met but hadn't talked a great deal since the merger had occurred, but Nina was lonely with only other boys running around in her group, and Paula was the only other girl she knew of in her immediate group of Misfits that didn't care about how she looked and acted.

Nina zoomed ahead, and caught up with her, and Paula looked to her side to see her, "Hey Nina, I take it you're heading to South?"

"Yeah, are you?" Nina replied.

"Yeah. Long story. I figure I can at least see what they do, and also watch Clint at the same time." Paula said back.

"Why're you watching him?" Nina asked in confusion.

"Last night when I took him back from his little prank with Jason, I met his parents. They told me that Clint told them of most of the events of the merger. They believe from my past actions that I can keep him out of trouble, since he's a lot more powerful than they are right now, so I told them I'd see what I could do." Paula explained.

Nina winced at that mentally, knowing Clint wasn't likely the one Paula needed to watch over, "It may be little of my business, but I don't think Clint's the one you'd need to watch."

"Why?" Paula asked, simply and to the point.

"Well, Clint is normally very good natured, and he's not one I know to abuse his powers. I remember that he mainly trained only so he could fly almost as often as he wanted a day, and not for the same reasons as the others."

"Really?" Paula was perplexed now, "If that is so, and since you know them more than me, who SHOULD I watch the most?"

"Alex and Vernon... honestly, and I can't say when you might need to watch one more than the other. Most of the times Alex acts more arrogant and power-hungry, but I know he's not truly out to abuse his power. He wants to be a hero like many others. Vernon is also very slow to anger as well, but he can be quite arrogant as well." Nina replied, and then thought of her little shrinking escapade with them, "You know Paula, I've actually had to step into one of their arguments once."

"Really? What did you do?" Paula asked in wonder. "Well, you heard of my ability to shrink others, right?" Nina asked, and Paula nodded to her in reply, "Well, let's just say I've used it on those two once. I even threatened to feed them to my cat Oscar, just to get them to shut up. From then, they stopped arguing so much with me around. Trust me, they don't argue like that often, but when they do, it can get messy. Beware of that."

"Okay, but exactly what do you do over at the school anyways? You never told some of us." Paula asked.

"Well, mainly I just hang out there, watching the whole original group in general, and sometimes assisting some of the teachers, but the student body has mixed opinions of me. Some of them are scared of me, others are intrigued by me, and some scorn me and call me a human freak of nature. Obviously they aren't as well versed in the merger as the rest of us are, so I can understand them in that area, but still... their scorn can hurt..." Nina said, becoming more depressed by the moment, "Nina, get a grip on yourself..." she then said to herself almost in a whisper, "Don't want to be going nuts on the liquor like Katt does."

"Who's Katt?" asked Paula, hearing her whisper.

"Well... I'll explain that later, but why don't we both stick together today. I think you might actually be a good influence on some of these bratty kids." Nina replied, a bit surprised Paula heard her comment at all, she then piped up as the school came into the distance.

"We're here, let's land a bit conspicuously." Nina advised to Paula, and she nodded in return, as both landed on the baseball field near where Clint had landed earlier, and approached the school from the football field entrance, heading in from the doors near the weight room.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:31am; Canton, Ohio)

After walking around for about 20 minutes, Steve, Dusty and Dwayne finally stopped at the Heritage Room, the restaurant that Dusty worked at. Dan unfortunately had to go off to wielding class on the other side of the school near the track, so he had already left. Dusty walked the two wrestlers through the front entrance, while Dusty walked back into the white-tiled kitchen. He found a few of his fellow chefs, along with his teacher, and head of the Heritage Room, Mr. Thomas Blike. Mr. Blike was a good acquaintance with both Dusty and Clint.

Dusty worked in the Heritage Room for the majority of his day at school, and had been doing so ever since his junior year in 1999. Being a senior had it's advantages, thought Dusty to himself at times, and today was especially one of those times, as Mr. Blike and his classmates had been called in advance about the special morning party for the workers that Dwayne and Steve had planned. The two wrestlers were setting up some of their things at the tables outside, and the dishes were specially set up for the visitors. Mr. Blike was also more aware of Dusty's latest undertakings than many of the other teachers.

"Dusty, welcome. I'm glad to see you made it today. How's the training been going?" Mr. Blike asked.

The unique thing about Mr. Blike to the Misfits was the fact that they had never seen him get remotely angry at anything as far as they knew. He wasn't always perfectly cheerful, but he was very good at remaining calm under pressure.

"Yeah Mr. Blike, Dwayne and Steve are setting things up out in the front." Dusty replied, referring to the wrestlers by their real names now, as he had gotten to know the two more personally than the other Misfits so far. Dusty then looked around, noticing a small girl working on frosting donuts near the office in the room.

"Hey Viola, been a while!" Dusty spoke up.

Viola looked at him, and smirked, "So you finally hauled your ass back to work, eh? I heard you've been hanging out with celebrities." Apparently Mr. Blike was more lenient than most knew, as he didn't berate his students or mark them about swearing as long as it was minor.

"Yeah, long story Vi. Let's just say I've changed a little in the last week. You need help with transporting those?" Dusty replied.

"Hold yer horses, Dusty. Let me frost the damn things first." Viola replied, causing a loud chuckle out of Dusty.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:36am; Canton, Ohio)

Dwayne and Steve in the meanwhile were still continuing to set up a few more things, including their own TV that they had taken in with them from the bus. As they were setting the TV up near the front entrance, they saw Nina and Paula walking past from the left side.

The two girls noticed the wrestlers, and looked at them in slight surprise, "What're you two doing here?" Paula asked.

"It's a surprise Steve and I set up for the school today. We figure since it's likely the others won't be here often, that they might want to have a more interesting day now." Dwayne answered.

"Besides, we've never done a high-school tour in our history." Steve finished.

"Is Dusty back in the kitchen?" Nina asked.

"Yes, but he's talking to Mr. Blike and the others, so he can't talk right now, and I think you two might want to get somewhere before the bell rings in 5 minutes." another student had said walking into the room. He was about Dusty's right, similar hairstyle, except slightly longer, and wearing glasses a bit like Dan's.

"Alright then Ryan. Tell him we stopped by. If he needs us, we'll be down in Mr. Herris's room." Nina replied.

"Okay Nina. I'll try to remind him." Ryan replied, and walked back into the kitchen, and then Paula and Nina proceeded further down the hall, around the corner, past the kitchen entrance of Mr. Blike's kitchen, and then around another corner down a long hallway, leading back to the area near the field entrance, and Mr. Miller's weight room.

Just to the left of the weight room entrance was the door to Mr. Dennis Herris's piano-keyboarding class. This is was one of the places Nina would normally stop by. She normally played on the piano with the other students, and Mr. Herris was quite friendly to her. He had even been told a few thing about Nina's own past and of the world she was born on. Mr. Herris was surprised at first, but he worked well with it. Also, Nina could also keep a small bit of tabs on Alex, who went to weight class just one door down from her. She listened in and already noticed Alex's trapper-keeper laying on the table in the weight room lobby as she came to the doors, so she knew he was probably changing for class now. As she and Paula entered the piano room, they had not been fully aware that one blond-haired boy with a pointy buzz-cut had been watching them from a distance.

He looked a bit perplexed at them, "Hmm... seems the winged bitch-freak has found a friend to mope with. Whatever..." he said as he walked in towards the weight room.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 7:40am; Canton, Ohio)

Nearby, Alex had finally finished changing into his weight room clothes. He grumbled at the fact that now he could walk that he had to change like everyone else. He liked being free from that annoying problem with his legs, but he knew that he had forfeited a few social advantages, like being able to skip in line at various places, or not having the change in the weight room, to name two. Oddly enough, he was one of the first ones in class this time, and he was normally used to being late. It must have been the drills given to him by Goku and Vegeta that had given him this sense of being on time. He walked outside the room and looked at the equipment around the room.

He gave a half happy, half bitter sigh. _I don't know rather to be happy or mad that I'm too strong for this stuff anymore. On one hand, I can easily impress the others, and scare some of the more annoying tards in here, but on the other hand, there's no challenge anymore._

Alex however would not be able to think anymore as a voice cut through those thoughts like a hot knife through butter, "Well if isn't 'Crutchy McLegs'!" Alex's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed, with now a barely contained anger. He twitched slightly, and turned his head back, seeing the same Blond-haired boy that had been watching Nina and Paula a minute ago.

Alex growled, _GOD DAMMIT! I forgot about that fucking asshole Jackson_1 "What the hell do you want, 'Jackass'!" Alex growled with clenched teeth.

Jackson smirked inwardly and outwardly, "So you finally came back to face your trials like a good little freak-lover, huh?"

"Shut up Jackson. Don't you have anything else to do but piss people off?" Alex said with less anger, but still a deep annoyance.

"Don't YOU have anything else to do but run away and hang around your winged-freak of a friend?" Jackson asked back at him in mocking at Alex's words, referring to Nina.

"You're just mad because not everyone agrees with you about her, you retard!" Alex growled.

Jackson's face turned to a slight frown, "Hmm... really? Well, I guess it makes sense coming from you. You envy her the most out of your stupid 'Misfits', seeing as she healed you of that disability... the one that by all right should've forever stayed with you!" he finished by raising his tone at Alex a little.

Alex and Jackson almost looked like they were going to jump at each other's throats. Jackson McCarakins was considered to be the ultimate jackass of the school in the eyes of all the Misfits, hence their nickname for him. He didn't like Alex much for his disability long back, and taunted him left and right about it. He was also a big supremacist, and picked on pretty much all of the other Misfits, and Nina had become one of his biggest targets after her arrival at CSHS. Jackson hated her with an undying passion, and would never pass an opportunity to taunt her and make her feel bad.

He was also a major reason various students at CSHS saw Nina as a freak with no rights, because despite his jerkishness, he got along with a decent-sized chunk of the younger population. The only Misfit he had any remote like towards was Dusty and Dan, because they barely hung around Nina. However if Jackson had known Dusty's big secret, he would hate Dusty almost more than even Nina.

However, luckily for them, probably Jackson more than Alex, Mr. Mike Miller, the weight room teacher, had come in close. He had not heard the two arguing about their last comments, but they did hear him coming, and Jackson slowly walked past Alex to the locker room, where Alex had only come out of moments prior.

"We'll settle this later, McCripple." Jackson whispered in his ear as he passed.

Alex almost wanted to powerup to Super Saiya-jin and choke the bastard to death right then and there, but then Clint's earlier words settled in. _ **just don't do something you'll regret...**_ he could swear he heard Clint's own voice repeating the words in his mind, over and over.

"Yeah... you're right Clint... I'll take care of Jackson some other time... sometime NOT on the premises..." Alex whispered to himself, as Mr. Miller walked around the corner.

The weight room teacher looked to be about in his late 40s, but he was very well fit for a human. Alex assumed his powerlevel would be about 18-22 on a scouter, as he sensed him. Jackson was only 11, equal with Vernon, Devin and Dusty's original powerlevels prior to the training they had gone through.

Mr. Miller looked over to Alex and looked a bit happy, "Well Alex, welcome back. I hope you've been alright these last few days! Are Clint, Vernon and Devin here too?"

"Yes, all three of them are here, so Clint'll be down here next period, and Devin should be there by 6th period, or so. Vernon will be by at 4th if I remember right." Alex said, now almost fully over his little insult trading with Jackson.

However Mr. Miller had been aware at times the two had conflicted a lot, and noticed that Alex looked a bit distraught, "You okay Alex? You look like you just got done yelling at someone." Mr. Miller asked.

Alex sighed in depression, and Mr. Miller had understood that WAS Jackson again. He walked over to Alex and whispered, "You can't let that kid bother you so much, Alex. I know McCarakins can be a real jerk sometimes, but I know you well. You keep plugging away. You all do..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Miller, it's just that he keeps insulting Nina, even though she can't help be the way she is, and he hates the fact more so that she healed me, and hates her more for destroying some of his credibility. I've got a feeling that if I don't pop on him soon, **Nina** just might." Alex said, ending with a thought of worry.

"Don't worry Alex, let's see if you've improved over the last few days." Mr. Miller slapped him on the back, pep-talking him, and Alex smirked... and beamed inwardly.

"Yes, I'll be sure to do test myself... I'm going to probably love it in here today." Alex replied, making Mr. Miller a bit curious to what he meant...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:07am; Canton, Ohio)

Back in Mr. Summers' room, Clint, Vernon, Jason, and a few other of Mr. Summer's students where primarily getting ready for their English assignment. Mr. Summers was still a bit curious about why they would have been out for so long. The notes he had gotten from the three Misfits had been genuine, but something was off about the way they acted towards each other now. He didn't remember Clint being quite so talkative with Jason or Vernon. Clint was usually the first to complete his assignments, and would lay his head on the desk afterwards until one of the others would get done.

Jason and Vernon soon completed their assignment, and the three were now talking in a close area of desks in the back part of the room, closer to Ms. Stryker's desk than his own. He also noticed Clint was again petting Slider. Slider was the class's pet guinea pig, and Clint had a fondness to him from the first times he was ever in the class since he arrived in late April of 1998.

"So, I wonder what Stone Cold and The Rock are cookin' in Mr. Blike's class?" Vernon said, not even realizing the partial line of Dwayne's that he just uttered.

"Actually, a better question: has Viola killed Dusty yet?" Jason said with a silly chuckle, referring to a friendship between the louder Misfit and the small girl worker in Mr. Blike's room.

Apparently the two had known each other for quite some time, and Viola always hung around Dusty like a good friend, even pretending once to be his girlfriend just to freak a few people out. Jason remembered how Dusty was a bit embarrassed and threatened to deck Jason a good one if he made fun of him publicly about it.

Clint thought to himself, _Something... something is odd here. It almost feels too normal again, like before the trip to Japan and the merger._ He then spoke up, "I wonder what Nina's doing right now, none of us here saw her yet today."

"I got a feeling she's in Mr. Herris's class." Ms. Stryker piped in from nearby, "I actually saw her a few minutes before class. She was being accompanied by another girl. I'd never seen HER before though. She seemed a bit... mysterious to me. Would any of you happen to know a blonde-haired girl with shoulder length hair, a hair ribbon, and a light pink dress?"

Clint, Vernon and Jason did realized who she referred to, "I think we know her, Ms. Stryker. She's another of our new friends." Vernon replied.

"I see... well, just between you three, and me and Mr. Summers, I think Jackson's being mean to her again. I saw him watching those two, and he seemed to be later arguing, apparently with Alex in the weight room. About what I don't know, but I know that little rat picks on Nina too much." Ms. Stryker then replied.

Clint, Vernon and Jason growled inwardly at the mention of Jackson's name. That kid hated them for apparently no reason. He especially seemed to hate Vernon the most out of the three present Misfits, apparently having to do with Vernon's athletic ability on track. Mr. Summers, unbeknownst to the three, had caught their strange looks while Ms. Stryker had been talking to them, and began to think to himself about the activities of those three. He knew Devin and Alex were also involved. He was also a bit curious to Virgil's absence that day.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:31am; Canton, Ohio)

Alex mused to himself. He had started off lifting like normal, and not raising his powerlevel much above the 8.4 he had started out with. However even then, he was lifting better than he normally was. Most of the students in the class had not yet noticed. However, two particular students had noticed a slight change in him. These two were known Thomas and Timothy Steigerwald. Both were identical twins, and most of the Misfits had a good amount of difficulty telling who one or the other was. Also, Devin and Alex weren't the most fond of them. Clint was more or less indifferent to them, having them in his weight class the year before, but never really getting genuinely bothered by them. However now, they were curious as they watched this go on.

"Hey Alex!" Tim shouted over to him, causing Alex to groan.

_Oh great, what do those two 'tards want?_ "I'm a bit busy here, Tom." Alex said, trying to mask his annoyance by pretending to struggle with the bench press he was doing.

"Alex, I'm over here. Tim's the one who asked you a question." Tom replied from the other side of the room.

"Yes... TIM, what do you want?" Alex said, trying not to clench his teeth in annoyance.

"I noticed you're getting better, but can you lift more?" Tim asked.

Alex smirked inward, _Why not? Maybe it'll shut them up!_ "Okay Tim... Tom... I'll see what I can do. Could you guys load me another 350 pounds on both sides?" Alex asked almost innocently, getting all the other students, including Mr. Miller's attention.

Alex's glee was slightly cut down when he noticed that bastard Jackson wasn't present, and probably outside on the track, knowing that Jackson was trying to become Vernon's superior in that. He supposed the current audience would have to do.

"You sure, Alex?" Tom asked, a bit taken back at Alex' request, but inside, he was curious, as he started helping his twin load another 700 some pounds onto Alex's bar.

"Yeah, quite sure. I've done some training in the last week, and I guess now's a better time than ever to test it." Alex replied, also noting the 350 pound weighted clothing he was wearing and hidden underneath was also going to make this possibly even more priceless.

"I'll see how many repetitions I can do here... count for me, will ya guys?" Alex asked with a devious smile.

Alex suddenly started lifting the 750 lbs of weight at a somewhat fast pace, his weighted clothing making it a tad difficult to move his arms completely, but other than that, he was doing a great job, now doing 20 reps in under 8 seconds. Tom and Tim were awestruck, Mr. Miller was impressed, and the other students were shocked to fear, as Alex just kept going and going, until he had done a good 64 repetitions, stopping at that much only because he was tried of waiting for Jackson to come in and see him doing them. Unfortunately, the jerkwad had never arrived during his show-off time, and that had gotten under his skin a bit. However he had accomplished one goal, to awe the people around him with his new strength. Alex smirked more than he had ever in his life at that time, proud of himself, and the clapping he got from Tim and Tom, as well as Mr. Miller's.

He was surprised the Steigerwalds were actually clapping sincerely for him. _Apparently... they might not have been so bad... Yeah... R...E...S...P...E...C...K... Respect!_ Alex thought to himself.

However as he lifted up, he felt a decent pain on his arms. Apparently he wasn't quite so perfect on those last 11 repetitions, and his muscles were a bit sore, but it had been worth it to put that shock on their faces. Alex then grabbed onto some of the weights in his clothing, and removed them in front of his classmates, the weights hitting the floor with heavy bumps and clangs. That just made the scene even more priceless. Mr. Miller was going to make sure he found out what had changed Alex's ability in the last week. He also wondered if Clint, who was going to be in his next class in about 10-20 minutes, would be able to make the same improvement...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:41am; Canton, Ohio)

Mr. Herris had noticed the change in Nina pretty fast. After arriving to his class, as he had been normally one of the last to arrive, he noticed Nina and Paula sitting at nearby pianos, already working at them. Nina was already well experienced with the piano, and she was playing a nice melody of hers from her own world. Paula on the other hand was more or less a beginner, and having to use a copy of one of the music books in the class.

Mr. Herris also noticed Paula was different as well, and wondered where she might have come from herself. Nina had also seemed to lighten her mood a good deal in the last 30 minutes, as Paula had been trying to make her feel better about some of the problems in her life, and Nina was happy that someone else cared more. It was nothing personal against the others, but many of them never tried to make themselves too well acquainted to Nina. Except possibly Dusty. Nina had an odd feeling about him, but she wasn't too sure just yet.

"So, who is your new friend anyways, Nina?" Mr. Herris decided to ask.

Paula looked up in response, and decided she would do the honors, "Polestar, Paula. I'm a new friend of Nina's. We met not too long back, a few days ago, actually. I'm here to help Nina out with watching some of our friends here at the school."

"So, you're friends with Alex and Clint too?" Mr. Herris asked, knowing both of them, as both had talked to him a couple of times in the past.

Paula got up, and walked over to him, and then whispered to him, "Yes, in fact, I'm kinda here to watch Clint. His parents want me to take care of him for the time being. I'm also here to help Nina watch the other Misfits here."

Mr. Herris was also aware of the Misfits group from the past as well, as he had gotten the chance to meet Dusty in the Heritage Room once, he had met Vernon and Devin outside school once or twice, and he had also known even Virgil, who by ironic coincidence was also in his class in a later school period.

Mr. Herris looked at her, and whispered back to her, "I see. Well, all I ask is that you do me the favor of keeping watch over those guys. They're a good bunch, but they tend to get reckless. Also, please watch over Virgil as well. I know he's a bit hard to deal with... but I think he's got the potential to change..."

Paula took his words into seriousness, noticing something was... how she felt to be prophetic in his words.

"Alright... I will..." she replied back, and walked back to her piano silently from that point on. She wouldn't play her song as well for the rest of the 15 minutes she was there...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:46am; Canton, Ohio)

The bell for the next period was about to ring, and Alex was finishing changing back into his normal clothes, much quicker before Jackson could get in there and annoy him. However, apparently he wasn't so fortunate, and Jackson had decided to walk into the room to change himself.

He looked at Alex and smirked at him again, "So, freak-lover, how sucky did you do today?" he was a bit snide in his remark.

Alex growled, "For your information, tard-boy. I was sweet in class today, but unfortunately, you were so obsessed with the track that you didn't get to see me. What, are you in love with that thing, or do you REALLY think you can beat Vernon! He's improved a lot in the last few days. You don't have a prayer against him anymore, and you never will!"

Jackson scowled, "Oh really! What exactly makes you think I can believe a word you say, you crippled warhorse? You know next to nothing about real life, little boy, and perhaps you should be put on a large boat, sent out to sea, and sunken to the bottom, along with your wretched freak-girl and your other 'Misfits'!" he began to lose his temper with each word.

Alex almost wanted to erupt, but he just looked at him with a neutral, but poisonous expression on his face, "Jackson, it doesn't matter. You can banter with me until your face turns blue. God has spoken. I am BETTER THAN YOU." he said, as he began to walk out of the room.

"YOU ARE WRONG." Jackson growled, now about to the last of his patience with Alex, "You... you are gum on the bottom of a cat's foot! You aren't even worthy of being HUMAN. Your destiny on this planet was to be a weakling, and if it wasn't for that winged whore, you'd have learned your place by now! Why do you think I hate her so much! I hate her because she's too tall to be normal, she has those stupid wings... she's like some fuckin' half-bird, half human! She doesn't deserve to have friends!"

Alex looked to him with a glare of murder in his eyes, but surprisingly, he did not attack Jackson, but his hair began to stand up, as if a gust of wind had came into the room, and his hair flickered from black to gold several times, and his eyes from coal black to turquoise.

Jackson was a bit taken back by this, but he regained his composite, "Are you going to try to fight me, freak-lover! I'll enjoy removing you from this Earth if you dare!" Jackson growled back, in truth a bit scared behind his mask of anger.

Alex simply replied, "You know what... let me explain something to you, you queer little donkey-fucker. You are right about one thing. I am NOT human. I am BETTER than a human, I am above you and your petty strength. Secondly, you need to have proper intelligence to make such big assumptions about one's destiny. And three, you had better fuck off with Nina, before SHE decides to do what I've lately been hoping to Hell and back to do to you. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Jackson just looked at him with a surprised look of pure malice in his eyes, "How dare you..."

"SHUT UP JACKSON." Tom growled and interrupted from further behind him, "Alex IS stronger than you, by a landslide now. He was able to lift 750 lbs, and WITH 350 more pounds of weighted CLOTHING, almost 70 times in under 2 minutes. I don't see you even scratching the surface of that, Jackson."

Jackson looked back at Tom in shock, "How... how can you be on HIS side!"

"We BOTH are." Tim replied, "I'm surprised you don't hate us even more than him. That 'winged whore' as you call her, never did ANYTHING wrong to you, and neither did the other Misfits. I wouldn't miss it for the world if they wanted to beat the living shit outta you for your nazist comments."

Jackson was just in utter shock, and an near indescribable anger for all three of them now, and most of the students in the room, who appeared to be supporting Tim, Tom and Alex.

"You're all fools... you're all wrong. I'll prove it to you." Jackson said in reply, deathly calm, as he watched Alex, Tim, Tom and the other students leaving the room...

Outside the room, Alex and the Steigerwalds sighed in relief, both at the fact Mr. Miller had surprisingly NOT heard the commotion of the last argument, and that they were out of the prescience of Jackson. The three of them were a little spooked at the kid, despite the fact most of his words were empty lies. Alex was also shocked that Tim and Tom directly defended him in there. Of course, the two twins had never liked Jackson either.

"Thanks for the help you two. I'm surprised you did all that for me..." Alex said, a bit embarrassed.

"Don't sweat it Alex. Trust me and Tim when we say that kid needs to be checked into a mental institution. We'll talk to you later." Tom said, as he and his brother took their books and stuff and left the room. Alex saw Mr. Miller entering the room from outside as this happened.

"Alex, I'm impressed. You've changed a good deal in the last few days. Whatever you're doing, keep it going, and keep to your guns. Sorry I can't talk more, but I gotta check on something in my office." Mr. Miller looked a bit in a hurry, and Alex was left to walk towards the exit of the room, as he saw a couple other students walking in.

As he began to leave, he heard a conversation forming in the back of his head.

A student had asked, "Mr. Miller, how's it going man?"

He then heard Mr. Miller say, "Checking something on TV for a moment. Something about a plane crashing."

The student then asked, "Where?"

"Somewhere in New York..." Mr. Miller's voice trailed off, as Alex left the room. A simple plane crash wasn't a big deal of news to Alex, those happened pretty often.

He was more concerned with getting to his study hall with Mr. Danaska before Jackson got out of the weight room, and tried to confront him somewhere in the halls. He knew Jackson might have been crazy enough to try to fight with one of them. One the way, he saw Clint carrying his stuff and heading towards that direction.

"Hey Clint, I'm warning you now, Jackson's PISSED. I really got under his skin with my new strength, and I know you could take him too from your power now, but he might try to pick a fight with you if you run into him." Alex said.

"Okay then, I'll watch for him. Thanks for the heads up, Alex." Clint replied, as he walked down the hallway. Alex shrugged and went off towards the lunchroom, where his study hall was.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:53am; Canton, Ohio)

Clint continued walking down the hallway, now his day made a little more interesting with the warning from Alex about Jackson. Clint could honestly admit that he hated Jackson with a passion, and he hated few people in his life. Jackson was a spoiled brat, apparently very rich, although he didn't wear very classy clothes. However his parents were also prejudiced, and somewhat racist. Their hate had passed down to Jackson, and apparently got amplified along the way in his school life.

Clint, nor any of the other Misfits, never understood why Jackson hated them, and especially Nina, due to the fact she was the main target of oppression in the school. Even Virgil, who was picked on a lot by the student body, was never bothered in the ways Nina was. Clint mentally growled to himself as he saw a somewhat pissed Jackson turn the corner. However apparently he had seen Clint, and decided to turn the other direction, instead of walking towards him.

However before he did walk off, he mouthed one phrase at Clint, but not in voice, only in movement of mouth: "Stay out my way, freak lover."

Clint grumbled at him as he left around the corner. He then decided he would mouth his own choice set of words back, and moved down to the corner at a faster speed, but when he turned the corner, he saw no sign of Jackson. Apparently he turned to go into the gym nearby, and didn't wish to bother any further with him. Clint grumbled to himself, and walked over into the weight class, and quickly going into the dressing room, and changing into his weighted training clothes, which he was planning to use.

He then walked out, and saw no sign of Mr. Miller, and the faint sound of the TV, but he wasn't paying attention to it right away. He went and picked up the 100lbs barbells on the back of the room and started doing curls with them for a few minutes. He didn't even care about keeping his power secret, working at his own pace. A few students came in from his own class, and looked a bit surprised when they saw Clint easily curling both 100 lbs weights in his hand, and the slight lack of weight on his stomach.

"Woah, he changed a lot over time." a random student had stated.

Clint only rolled his eyes at that comment, but the next comment got his attention. "Hey Clint! Long time no see!" it was Mr. Miller's voice.

Clint looked up to his favored weight room teacher, "What's up Mr. Miller?"

"I see Alex isn't the only that's apparently improved in your absence." Mr. Miller replied.

Clint sweatdropped, realizing he was holding a lot more than he normally did, which was around 40-55 lbs per arm. "Yeah, it's a long story Mr. Miller. I'll probably tell you at a more appropriate time."

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to do your thing, I'm gonna back and check on the news." Mr. Miller asked.

"Why?" Clint asked, now curious.

"A few minutes ago, there was an airplane crash," he noticed Clint's face take on a slightly grim look as he sighed, "But it's a bit worse than normal."

THAT got Clint's attention, "How so?"

"You know the World Trade Center in upper Manhattan? It's apparently crashed into an upper story of the north tower. There was a huge explosion, and lots of smoke."

Clint's eyes almost widened to the size of his own head, and he quickly rushed off into Mr. Miller's office, looking at the TV quickly, and sitting down in a spare chair nearby. He had began to see what was apparently eye-witness footage of a plane crashing in to the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. The World Trade Center was a major center of trade in America, and for it to be in this situation, it wasn't good.

Mr. Miller entered the office, and realized by the forlong look in Clint's eyes that he was more or less glued to the TV.

"Clint, I know it's bad, but we need to go on with class too." Mr. Miller tried to assure him, but when he looked closer, he noticed Clint's eyes were fixated on a certain part of the screen.

Clint had a bad feeling, "What's going on here..." he said to himself, and only Mr. Miller heard him.

"Please let me watch a couple more minutes. I want to make sure this was an accident first." Clint then said, now listening to some of the news bulletins about the crash.

Mr. Miller was taken back from his words. "What do you mean?" Mr. Miller asked.

"I've got a BAD feeling about how this happened. I don't think this was an accident..." Clint said sadly.

"I'm sure it's not as bad it seems..." Mr. Miller said, until the news suddenly gave word of another news alert.

Clint and Mr. Miller stared at the screen, their eyes showing extreme amounts of disbelief at the scene now playing out in front of them.

"Oh god no..." Clint whispered in fright, as he and Mr. Miller were again viewing the World Trade Center, now from another angle, except now a SECOND plane had flown in low, and crashed into the near uppermost section of the SOUTHERN tower of the WTC, creating a massive explosion. Mr. Miller's eyes were fighting back tears.

Clint's eyes narrowed in a bitter depression and sadness, "Mr. Miller... this is NOT an accident..." he said to himself and Mr. Miller, as the reporters' voices were recording the horrible tragedy.

Other students came into the office asking Mr. Miller what they were planning for the day. However, after hearing about the second plane, they were almost just as glued to the TV as Clint and Mr. Miller now. Needless to say, Clint didn't feel like lifting weights anymore, looking at the digital clock on the wall, saying '9:04am'...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:07am; Canton, Ohio)

Vernon and Jason were still in Mr. Summers' class, now in Math with him. Clint had History class a couple of periods later, but Vernon and Jason had two classes in a row with Mr. Summers. They were bored to near tears with it.

_Man, I wish we didn't have to do this crap..._ Vernon thought somewhat bitterly, _I wish SOMETHING would happen._

However, Vernon would soon get his wish, as Ms. Stryker quickly opened the door from the outside, apparently going down to the guidance office to get some documents, and then rushing back in.

"Paul, we need to turn the news on, NOW." Patti replied, in a very grief-stricken, but serious voice. Mr. Summers, Vernon and Jason looked at her with a risky interest at her request, and Mr. Summers pulled out the TV remote turned it on, to channel 5, which was also giving news stories on the crashed Airplanes at the World Trade Center.

The reporters were jabbering on about both crashes, slowly but repeatedly. Vernon and Jason grew a bit sick to their stomachs at the scene of both planes crashing.

"This is horrible." Ms. Stryker said in the middle of one of the reports on the crashes, "I can't believe something like this would happened over there. All those lives cut short..."

Vernon and Jason gulped meekly, and also horrified at what was happening.

_Me and my big fucking mouth._ Vernon thought bitterly, as he and Jason were thinking to themselves on the horror of all those lives lost.

_Those planes probably each had dozens of people, and not to mention those towers. If they were to collapse... thousands will die._ Jason thought bitterly to himself, _And there's no way to get there in time! Even if Mr. Summers would let us leave with no qualms, we'd never be able to get everyone gathered up in time..._2 Jason fought back some tears of grief, and pounded down on his desk in anguish, leaving a tiny crack, "Darn it all!" Jason growled.

"Jason, calm down... there's nothing any of us can do..." Vernon said, also just as mad as Jason, and whispered to him, "Even though we can fly, we're too far away, and not fast enough to get their to make a difference."

"I know, but it sucks, Vernon... it sucks... so much." Jason growled, holding back tears, even though in all honestly he didn't want to...

Vernon looked down forlongly, "I know Jason..." he then looked at the screen once again... _ I know..._

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:21am; Canton, Ohio)

Devin was in his auto-tech class, which was over on the other side of the football field and track, and was located inside the Canton South Bus Station as well. Devin was a big car guru, and was fascinated by them. He was also a big fan of speed racing movies, and the Grand Theft Auto games. Anything involving driving cars at high speeds was of great interest to him. He had applied for auto-tech to understand more thoroughly about how to repair and make car engines and doing other jobs for random individuals. His class was ran by Mr. Russell Angel and Mr. Kenneth Williams, the former being the main teacher, and the latter normally out of room and handling the senior class matters.

Devin himself was working on a large engine model that had been given to him and his classmates. It was imperative that this engine be completed as soon as possible, as someone else was coming in apparently to pick it up. A stray student had ran by the classrooms and entered Devin's class, huffing and puffing like he had been running a good distance.

"Mr. Angel, you guys seen the news!" he asked. Devin was a little preoccupied at first and ignored him.

"Why? What's happening?" asked Mr. Angel.

The student panted a bit more, and said "The Twin Towers in New York..." Devin then perked up at that news, as the student continued, "Two planes crashed into them only in the last 30 minutes! One crashed at about 8:50, and the other around 9:05! People are speculating that it was possibly a terrorist attack!" the student replied in exhaustion and depression.

_WHAT!_ Devin was definitely no longer focused on the engine he was fixing. "Any other information known on this?" Devin asked the student, as Mr. Angel quickly turned on the News after hearing this.

"Yes, I think they JUST closed all the tunnels and bridges leading into Manhattan!" the student replied.

Mr. Angel started to watch the news with an incredulous look of shock on his face, as he heard reports just coming in about recent discoveries. After a couple minutes of hearing this report, he called out to his more distant students, including Devin, still trying to work a little on the engine in the room without overdoing it from the anger he felt at the recent news.

"Class... there's been more news on this disaster. We just got reports that FOUR planes apparently lifted off today, bound for different locations. Two Boeing 757s, and two Boeing 767s. One, American Airlines Flight 11, apparently carrying 81 passengers, and 11 crew members, was possibly the first plane to crash into the north tower." Devin's anger began to boil at this, but he remained calm on the outside as Mr. Angel continued, "Another that we think just crashed into the south tower only 20 minutes ago was American Airlines Flight 175, and carrying 56 passengers, and 9 crew members."

_This is terrible! Whoever the fuck did this... I swear if I ever... if I ever find the people who did or planned this, I'll rip them to pieces!_ Devin growled to himself.

But Mr. Angel's news wasn't yet over, "That leaves two planes, apparently United Airlines Flight 93, with 38 passengers and 7 crew members, and American Airlines Flight 77, with 58 passengers, and 6 crew members.

"That's still over 100 people missing!" one student said in disbelief, "What, are these sickos planning to crash THEM as well!"

"Calm down..." Mr. Angel reprimanded the student, "I know this is a horrible attack on life, and it's hard to believe, but I don't think these people are done terrorizing us yet."

"I bet it's those damn Arabs!" another student, Jimmy Broad, one of the class hotheads, had piped in.

"Look, I hate this as much as you Jimmy, but we can't blame ALL the Arabs for this, even IF they did it!" Devin growled.

"Shut up Devin!" Jimmy growled back, "Those damn monsters don't deserve the lives they got! Them and their twisted beliefs!"

"Jimmy, ENOUGH." Mr. Angel grumbled at him, "We will not go around blindly accusing people until the facts are straight. You understand?" Jimmy nodded with a grumble.

"Now, I hate to do this in such a situation, but I can't stop class just yet. We have to get this engine model finished if possible. But I will continue to update you with the news." Mr. Angel continued.

Devin grumbled to himself, _ If there was only a way I could've helped more..._

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:28am; Canton, Ohio)

In his study hall, Alex had done much to what he had planned, taking out his CD player and laying his head down on the table he sat at, sleeping away. He always did this in the study hall. He never had anything to do at this point, and now more than ever he was bored to sleep. He at least had something to do last period that could make him feel better, and telling off Jackson had relieved most of his pent up stress, so now he was just relaxing while listening to a WWE Themes CD, specifically Stone Cold's theme by Disturbed. He was sleeping content for about 25 minutes, until he got a jolt to his shoulder.

Alex looked up groggily, wondering who was bothering him. Alex's eyes narrowed in annoyance. It was just John Bruener, aka "The Hump", as Alex and others like Dusty called him, due to the reasonable sized hump on his back.

"Humpy, leave me alone!" Alex grumbled.

"Alex, hate to bother you, but you might want to take a look at the TV. Some major shit has just happened in the last 30 minutes." John said to him.

Alex grumbled again, and looked over to the TV, and saw footage of the Twin Towers on fire. "What the..." Alex's eyes focused a little more, and noticing the TV was showing clips of the second plane's crash into the south tower. As his mind registered this, he bolted up, "What the fuck... Hump, what happened!"

"Here's what they've said so far: It started with a plane crash into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan at around 8:50am. At first, everyone thought it was just a very unfortunate accident. However, 15 minutes later, a SECOND plane crashed into the south tower, and did similar damage to it. The towers are still under heavy fire, and we've learned that the planes might have been HIJACKED. One plane had about 90 people on it, the other about 65 people on it. Terrorism is highly suspected, and I'm not one to disagree." John explained quickly, "And worse... there are TWO other planes still missing. Apparently they're planned on crashing into places as well. Perhaps they'll come to the towers to finish the job..."

Alex looked to take all of this news in almost casually, acting tired on the outside, but inside... Alex's mind was definitely awake, and boiling red with an indescribable anger.

_Fuck. Just... fuck... fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! How dare these fucking bastards attack our country like this! I'LL KILL THE MOTHERFUCKERS RESPONSIBLE! I SWEAR TO GOD!_ Alex's anger was barely controlled, and surprisingly, he was able to keep so calm on the outside, "This is not good..." he said, barely keeping calm through clenched teeth, and he decided to move over to a table closer to the wall-mounted TV on the back wall of the lunchroom, and was now keeping a heavy watch on the screen, and listening to the news, and the speculations by the reporters.

_It's probably those fucking Arab extremists! This kinda of barbarism is up their alley!_ Alex growled mentally, as he dreadfully kept a silent vigil on the news.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:34am; Canton, Ohio)

In the Heritage Room, Dwayne, Steve, Dusty, Viola, Ryan, Mr. Blike and their other acquaintances were in the midst of a party, with special edition Wrestlemania footage playing on the TV for all the viewers. A couple of others had managed to weasel into the party, and were keeping quiet on one side of the room, but for the most part Dwayne and Steve were also talking about some of their lesser known matches in the past, and some before they had even joined WWE. Dwayne was even talking about his old names: Flex Kavana and Rocky Maivia. He was also thinking a bit about his wife, Garcia, and his newly born daughter, Simone Alexandra.

When he had mysteriously vanished from the training ring in Las Vegas with Stone Cold on August 29th, he had been worried about his 15-day old daughter and his wife, but he had been able to get back in contact with them after a day or two. His family was happy to know both he and Steve were alright, but they were a bit taken back at first when the Rock told them he would remain in Canton for a while. He had asked, if it was possible to find a way for them to meet later on in Canton for a while. The match at Gund Arena coming up was a perfect time, and Dwayne was looking forward to that day. Unfortunately for him and Steve, their party was about to receive a low blow, when one of the teacher assistants from the Vice-Principal's office nearby rushed in.

"Mr. Blike! Have you heard the news!" she asked to them.

"No, I'm afraid we've been watching the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin's older matches for the last 40 minutes. What's going on?" Mr. Blike asked.

"There's been a horrible attack on the World Trade Center! At least that's what's being speculated!" the assistant replied.

"What? What exactly happened!" Dusty jumped up in surprise.

"Two planes crashed into each of the towers in the last 50 minutes. One was at around 8:50am, and the other around 9:05am. There's also reports that two other planes are missing. The president also has given a speech on this development. The government suspects the planes have been hijacked by terrorists." the assistant replied back all in one big breath. Dwayne and Steve looked at each other with grim expressions.

"Those towers... if they were to fall..." Dwayne started.

"Dammit... Rock don't say it! People are already dead, and more are likely to die!" Steve stopped him.

Mr. Blike had a forlong expression on his face, "This... this is terrible." He stopped the tape they were watching, and tuned into the news. The reporters on the news quickly filled the entire Heritage Room in on the situation. They even saw the footage of the crashes into the two towers.

"I don't believe this!" Viola screamed, looking for all the world that she was going to let out banshee's wail throughout the room.

Ryan scowled at then news, "Anyone have an idea WHO might be sick enough to plan this?"

Mr. Blike decided to reply, "The way this was done, the evidence likely points to one of those Islamic Extremist groups in the middle east. Which one might have actually done it, that would be hard to figure out. I'm sure whoever these people are, they're going for maximum effectiveness." He then studied a little closer on the recordings of the crashes of WHERE on the towers they crashed on to. Mr. Blike's face slightly paled, as he realized what the terrorists were likely aiming for, "Wait... it looks like they're aiming at the tower supports. Those jets have massive fuel tanks, and they would contain enough gas to burn for several hours. The smoke and flames appear to be on the corner of the towers."

"What would that mean, Thomas?" asked Steve, not bothering to be formal in this situation.

"It means there's a definite chance the tops of the towers will collapse. Whoever would still be in that part of the towers would likely fall to their deaths..." Mr. Blike explained.

"Oh god no..." another Heritage Room chef said out loud. Needless to say, the events of the last 50 minutes changed the mood of the restaurant in seconds. No one wanted to party anymore...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:44am; Canton, Ohio)

Around 9 minutes ago, Paula and Nina had arrived in another classroom in the school when the bell had rang at 9:36. The class was where the art students worked, and was ran by two teachers, Ms. Linda Litterdale, and Mr. Christopher Bergert. Nina had known the two teachers somewhat well, and Mr. Bergert was another close friend of her and the other Misfits. After introducing Paula to the two teachers, they also asked them if they had heard the news so far on the plane crashes. They had confirmed that they knew about both planes, and the other two missing planes, and that more attacks might be coming. As for Paula and Nina, they were appalled, pissed and depressed all at the same time.

Nina personally took the attacks bad, as she began recalling some of the events on her own homeworld. While her old enemies might not have attacked places in exactly the same way, many casualties were suffered... her friends had lost other friends of theirs, close family had been changed, and she had lost her younger sister Mina in the events. Luckily for a certain jackass known as Jackson, neither of them had bumped into each other in the last 50 minutes. Paula on the other hand didn't have much personal tragedy in her life. Her problems were more from within than around her, with the exception of the media, and 'the war against "him"' as she thought of it. She was still appalled regardless, not liking to see people die. She never liked to take lives, and hated such factions like cults of murderous fanatics, and other extremist groups. She had heard the rumors from other students of the middle-eastern Islamic groups being involved, due to the methods the attacks had used so far.

However their woes would only get worse a few moments later. Another news alert suddenly popped up on the art room TV. The report gave mentioning that a THIRD plane had crashed, however it was not at the World Trade Center like the last two planes, but it crashed in a location that made Nina's heart almost stop. A Boeing 757 had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., the capitol of the entire United States.

When Nina heard that particular news, she came to a grim realization. "This is definitely... a terror attack."

Paula was not so aware of the importance of the Pentagon just yet, but she knew it had to be a big target if someone would crash a plane into it. All Paula knew was that she was beginning to get angry, very angry.

"How could people do something... so EVIL!" she growled in anger, almost enough to start clenching her fists.

Mr. Bergert looked to the TV in depression and sadness, "Another 40 or more people... just gone, and possibly even more."

"Today has not been a good day." Ms. Litterdale replied.

"It's gonna likely get worse." Nina said, still staring ahead at the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" Paula was now interested in this development.

"They attacked the Pentagon, and beforehand, the World Trade Center. This shows a high possibility that the people doing this to us are trying for maximum damage. Paula, I know you're not so aware of these places, but the World Trade Center is a central trading hub here in America, and the Pentagon is considered the military heart of the country. Also, this makes me realize that there's a 90 or more possibility that I know the next possible target."

Mr. Bergert paled in realization, "Oh no... Nina you're not saying..."

"The White House is likely the next target of these madmen." Nina said, and then turned to Paula, "Paula, the White House is the home of the President. And while we might know he's not in the White House, the terrorist DON'T know this, and other people, including possibly his family might be still in there. Also, the White House is one of the most famous and historical monuments in America. If they blew it up, the country's morale would go to Hell and back, and we know one other plane remains in the air."

Paula paled in shock, "That... is bad... horrid..." she only eeped out meekly at the news.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:48am; Canton, Ohio)

Vernon had left Mr. Summers room, and was now in Mr. Jim Eckinger's computer tech class in the southern part of the school on the second floor. Of course, little work was being done with the news. Vernon had also gotten the bulletin of the Pentagon's problems.

_Jason's probably going catatonic over in his study hall. Man... this has been a BAD day for America._ Vernon was still trying to do some work, or at least surf the internet at the time, to keep his mind off the events, but it wasn't doing a great job, most of the site he ended up at only talking about the ongoing attacks.

Vernon soon gave up surfing and looked back to the TV. Now a bulletin was being stated about the U.S. Capitol Building and the West Wing of the White House being evacuated.

_Must be making sure the President's family, and all the high big-wigs are okay first... figures._ Vernon thought to himself, with a hint of contempt.

A couple more minutes had passed, with more news that the FAA, or the Federal Aviation Administration had banned all other aircraft takeoffs in the entire country.

_That's not gonna be of too much help now, people..._ Vernon grumbled to himself.

Another student looked back to Mr. Eckinger, "Mr. Eckinger? Do you have any idea what these people might try next?"

Mr. Eckinger looked over to the class and spoke, "Considering the evacuation of many key areas in Washington D.C., it's a good chance the White House or the Capitol Building are high end targets. These terrorists are aiming to cripple our economy and our military stance with this. They probably still think the president is in The White House, so that doesn't help matters for them."

Vernon growled inwardly, _These people have gone too far! I swear if I find these asshats, that I'm gonna make their deaths excruciating!_

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 9:56am; Canton, Ohio)

Piccolo had not been present at Vernon's house when the news first came. Piccolo had been out on other smaller errands around the neighborhood, so when he finally arrived back at Vernon's house, he was surprised to find #17 was NOT outside for once. He looked around the house for a couple of moments, until deciding to go inside. In Vernon's living room, he saw #17 sitting on a chair watching the news, an angry frown on his face. Piccolo was a bit surprised. Usually #17 was a more cheerful, yet mischievous individual. Piccolo was about to ask

#17 what was wrong, when he turned to Piccolo and spoke first. "You're back... Good, you need to see this, now."

Piccolo was a bit taken back by the tone of #17's voice. It wasn't a commanding voice, but more of a grim voice. Piccolo focused in on the news on the TV, which at that moment had been playing back footage of the first two planes crashing into the World Trade Center, and then afterwards, footage of the Pentagon just after it had been hit by the third plane.

Piccolo's face was a mix of anger, shock and confusion, "What... the hell! #17, what's all of this about!"

"All of this is several hundreds of miles east of us, over in New York City, and in Washington D.C. It started at around 8:50am, when a plane crashed into one of the towers of a major area known as the World Trade Center. 15 minutes later, a second plane hit the other tower, and then about 40 minutes after, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was nailed by a third plane. The news speculates terrorist activity."

"No shit." Piccolo grumbled at the last part, "Any word on who the hell these idiots are!"

"Some people think some 'Islamic Extremists', or whatever, might have planned this. The reports seem to link the attacks to the style of other types of attacks. Suicide bombings, car bombings, ambush attacks on civilians, or whatever." #17 replied.

"Dammit..." Piccolo grumbled to himself, causing him to scan into the deepest of his memories, memories of a father-figure long dead, one who was much more evil then Piccolo himself ever had been. _Damiaou... even HE wouldn't do something like this without some kind of warning! Of course most of the time there was no way to escape him, but these bastards just came out of the blue and attacked these places. I know on our world we dealt with things that made these attacks look childish by comparison, but no human or other creatures so weak should ever be allow to gain the ability to cause this type of destruction._

"Piccolo... what should we do about this?" #17 asked him now. Piccolo looked to the cyborg for a moment, and then to himself. He thought for a minute, although to him, it felt like more of an eternity.

He then looked back to #17. "We'll wait for now. The others are likely finding out about this, but most of them are at their school, and we don't have the school's phone number right now."

Just at around that moment, another bulletin came up. This time it was about an emergency operator in Pennsylvania that had gotten a call from United Flight 93, from a desperate sounding passenger, stating the plane had been hijacked by Arabian, American, and Islamic men carrying sharpened box-cutters.

After hearing that, Piccolo about blanched, "I can't believe these weakling terrorists could ever cause this much damage! Why don't the passengers just attack them!"

"Think about human nature Piccolo. I was human once, I believe." #17 stated. Piccolo groaned.

#17 was right, most human nature was to survive, to keep themselves from death, which meant even cowardice was considered a means to survival. That was why Piccolo didn't get along too well with humans, leading to his earlier bet with Dan in Tokyo, and it was a prime reason Piccolo Damiaou hated humans.

"We may have to reach the others if this gets worse." Piccolo then stated to himself.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:04am; Canton, Ohio)

Goku and Vegeta had slept in all morning. They felt they deserved at least some extra sleep for all the time they had to spend training Alex, and babysitting him and sometimes Vernon. It was because of this, that Goku had just woken up a couple of minutes ago. Fortunately, he wasn't very groggy, but he wasn't used to sleeping in either, so that might have helped matters for him. Vegeta was not quite as awake yet, and freshening up in the bathroom at the time.

Goku walked downstairs, and into the kitchen. He turned on the TV, and turned around to get out some fish in the freezer to cook for himself, when he suddenly heard, "Oh my god... the south tower... it's breaking apart!"

Goku immediately turned to the source of the voice, the TV, and saw a horrific sight. On live TV, news reporters were catching footage of the South Tower of the World Trade Center beginning to break apart at the top, and falling inwards. It didn't stop there, the collective amount of collapsing debris continued to crush down on the more solid parts of the tower, breaking them to pieces, and causing a terrifying domino effect. Only 6 seconds later he had witnessed the entire Southern Tower fall to the ground below. The tower would forever cease to exist as what it once was... Goku could swear in his grief that he had seen some people falling out of the tower as it fell.

He nearly threw up from the sight, and screamed, "VEGETA! WE'VE GOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM!"

Upstairs, Vegeta grumbled slightly at his reflection in the mirror at the high volume of Goku's voice. _What the hell could Kakarott mean by that!_

Vegeta had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and quickly finished up his work in the bathroom, and walked downstairs. He walked into the kitchen, hearing something on the TV about the White House now being fully evacuated. THAT did not sound good. He and Goku remembered Alex and Vernon telling them about some of America, including Washington D.C. and the White House and Pentagon.

"Kakarott, what happened!" Vegeta asked.

Goku looked like he was fighting back tears. "This is horrible! All those people... hundreds of people, just gone!"

"What! Kakarott, who's attacking what!" Vegeta asked a bit impatiently.

"Vegeta, hold on, I don't have all the news. All I know is that a large, 80+ story tower filled with people just collapsed about a minute ago." Goku replied.

Vegeta gained a bit of aggravation of his face, "Kakarott, accidents happen all the time! You can't grieve like that for a freak accident!"

"IT WAS NO ACCIDENT, VEGETA!" Goku screamed back, barely keeping from transforming to Super Saiya-jin in anger, "Before the tower collapsed, it was giving off smoke in the upper stories, and it looked like something was burning. The news said a plane crashed into the tower!"

That made Vegeta change his attitude, "What! You're kidding, Kakarott!"

"Afraid not... Look, we need to keep in tune to the news to learn all of it." Goku replied. Over the next couple of minutes, Vegeta and Goku were quickly given all the news so far, including the south tower's collapse.

Vegeta was now fuming, and smashed his fist over the table, breaking it in half. "DAMMIT! How can anyone be such a bunch of cowards! These foreign terrorists have no honor, Kakarott! They would give up their lives for something so trivial?" Goku winced as he looked at the broken table, and Vegeta.

"I take it these attacks hit a personal nerve with you, Vegeta." he replied.

"Kakarott, humans are by no means the only races that stoop to such low-life attacks. Under Frieza's Planet Trade, and before Vegeta-sei had been destroyed, Frieza's henchmen, AND the inhabitants of various planets we conquerored used similar strategies on either us, or each other! However these people are worse for one reason... because they don't even have the power to fly on their own and shoot ki! No mere weakling deserves to be given the weapons of a god with he has little or no understand of it!" Vegeta replied in grim anger.

However they would get more news. Another bulletin was now coming out, about a massive part of the attacked portion of the Pentagon also collapsing. Goku and Vegeta's anger at these events only got worse from it. Vegeta temporarily burst into Super Saiya-jin, and then back out.

"Calm down Vegeta, us getting mad over here is not going to help." Goku said in a stern, rarely used voice.

Vegeta growled, "Then why don't we just teleport to New York City and help these people, Kakarott!"

"Vegeta, I truly wish I could, but nobody that I know is over there. I've never seen most of this new world, aside from a bit of Japan and parts of Canton. There's too many low ki signatures in the disaster areas and around, so teleporting there would only make us end up in some random place, likely nowhere close enough to help. Most of the damage has already been done..." Goku said sadly.

Suddenly yet ANOTHER bulletin popped up on the news. The news was partially relieving to Goku, but there had still been a loss of life. The flight on which the last group of highjackers were taking over had been crashed into a wooded, but clear of life area in Pennsylvania. He knew people had just died, but he also knew it could've been much worse.

"Kakarott, we need to act to this somehow, and you know it!" Vegeta interrupted his thoughts.

"I know Vegeta, I know! We should gather the others. No doubt some of them have heard by now what's going on!" Goku replied. However, speaking of which, the phone in their front room suddenly rang.

Goku, being the lighter mooded of the two saiya-jin, went and picked it up, "Hello?"

"Goku, it's Piccolo." the namekian's voice quickly spoke over the receiver. From the tone in Piccolo's voice, Goku knew he had already heard the news.

"I know... the news... it's a horrible day for the people of this country.3" Goku said.

"Good, you've already heard. What's Vegeta saying about it?" Piccolo asked. Goku turned back to the kitchen, and heard Vegeta grumbling unintelligibly to himself.

"Not good. He's relating these attacks to his own past, but he says these people are worse because 'weaklings don't deserve to wield a god's weapons'." Goku replied.

Piccolo allowed himself a tiny and grim smirk at that. At least Vegeta and him could agree on something once in a blue moon. Piccolo himself was shocked at the collapsing of the towers, and #17 looked on the verge of exploding after the Pentagon's one part collapsed, but calmed down after he learned the last plane didn't hit a populated area.

"Goku, we have to meet up, and gather the others." Piccolo said simply.

"I know, I agree." Goku replied, "I'll call Heero, Buu and Radditz, they need to know about this as well. I don't think Buu will understand it too much, and I have no clue how Radditz will take it, but I'm sure Heero's gonna be pissed."

"You do that, Son." Piccolo said, calling Goku by his surname, which he only did in very serious situations, or when they were sparring at times.

"Talk later." Goku replied, and then he and Piccolo hung up, cutting the connection. Goku then picked up the phone, and sighed. He had to call over at Nina's first to make sure he was there. If not, he would have to try to telepathically contact him. He knew he'd have to do the latter with Buu, and he had no clue how to normally get in contact with Heero, so the latter would have to be done in his case as well...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:15am; Canton, Ohio)

In his auto-tech class, Devin and his class had been given constant updates by Mr. Angel's TV. Devin sighed in relief when he saw the final plane had not crashed down in any populated areas, but he still loathed the terrorists because they had taken hundreds, maybe thousands of lives now. Devin could swear he almost had a heart attack when he saw the South tower collapsing.

_This is a nightmare!_ Devin thought to himself bitterly.

Now the majority of the auto-tech class had no will to go on and finish the engine. Devin looked around, noticing most of the class, even Jimmy were silent and brooding over the final events of the tragic attacks.

_This happened all on September 11th... 9-11... what an awful timing for these bastards!_

He was wondering how Dan, who was only a few rooms away in the Welding room, was taking the news. No doubt Dan would want to tear these people a new one. He was quite patriotic in nature, and was even considering joining the military at one point in his life. Devin didn't know if these attacks were making Dan consider that decision even more.

It didn't matter, Dan was now much stronger than any other normal human with his training in the last few days. Devin realized that these attacks were an awful reminder to why heroes like the Z-warriors, and possibly even himself and the other Misfits existed, and he knew that he was going need to up his training. He was determined to stop any other attacks like this, rather by extremists, or some other supervillain, from happening again...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:21am; Canton, Ohio)

At the front side of the school, the traffic on Faircrest Ave. E was still bustling despite the news of the attacks, although some people were still being cautious. However people were still devoted to their duties. One such person was Teresa Hamilton, a UPS Delivery driver. She was 5'8", and adorned in a light brown, wavy hair, with almond brown eyes, although one couldn't normally tell through the sunglasses she wore. She also had a beautiful figure, which many woman would die for, and boys were attracted to like flies, as she wore a tight-looking variation of the standard delivery uniform.

She smiled to herself, "Well, I gotta deliver this thing, despite all the crap going on around here." she then looked just a bit disturbed, as she looked at the small box.

It was filled with various supplies that were apparently meant for one of the classes at the school. She picked up the box, which by the size made one wonder of her strength, as it looked like it'd be somewhat hard for a woman of her size to lift it. She walked up the front doors of the school, and knocked on the door, until it was opened. She looked at the student at the door, another girl named Stacey Brownfield, who nodded at her.

"Good day, ma'am, I need to find your principal's office." Teresa asked her.

Stacey looked over a little behind her, and pointed around a corner, "It's not far from here, and right around the corner."

"Thanks." Teresa replied, and made her way down the hall.

At that point, she saw Clint walking down the steps, the same ones Vernon and Jason had ascended in the beginning of the day to meet Mr. Summers, but then turned into another room after getting off the steps. She didn't know him, but she noted a somewhat grim resolve on his face, as she turned into the main office...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:25am; Canton, Ohio)

Clint was now sitting in the Guidance Office of the school. Apparently he had made an appointment with two of the more well known guidance counselors, Mr. Doug Nagle and Mrs. Mary Lynn Offredo. These two were very good friends with Clint, especially Mr. Nagle, who was like an uncle to him. After a minute or two, the secretaries gave Clint access to the two offices on the east side of the room, which were Mr. Nagle and Ms. Offredo's rooms. He looked into the offices, noticing both counselors were in Ms. Offredo's bigger room. Ms. Offredo herself sat in a chair near the back of the room, next to both a computer and a radio, while Mr. Nagle was sitting in a chair near the door, next to another free chair.

"Clint-man. Nice to see you." Mr. Nagle said to him as he entered, in a slightly deflated voice. Mr. Nagle was normally a cheerful man, much like Mr. Blike, and never raised his voice at anyone as far as he knew, or got mad, but even he was depressed at the events of the attacks.

Ms. Offredo had a grim expression, but was trying to hide it in front of Clint, not wanting him to feel too much worse. They were a little concerned when he had called their offices during his weight class with Mr. Miller. When Clint had called, he said he had something about revealing what they were doing in the last week.

"Hey Mr. Nagle and Ms. Offredo. I'm sorry to be so urgent here..." Clint said in a bit of a moping voice.

Ms. Offredo looked at him, "You look like you have a heavy weight on your back, Clint."

"Well, it doesn't help that my clothes and other materials have been weighted in the last few says, but that's only part of what this is about." Clint half-joked, "I need to let you all know what we were really doing in the last 6 days, since our return from Japan." Clint replied. Mr. Nagle decided he would close the door to keep the conversation private.

"What is this about, Clintster?" asked Mr. Nagle.

"I know it's gonna be hard to believe at first... but bear with me please." Clint said as he lifted himself off the ground a few inches.

Both guidance counselors were surprised. "Clint, how're you..?" Ms. Offredo asked, but stopped in surprised.

Clint had also formed a small ball of ki in his hands for a moment, and let it flicker away, landing back on the floor. "Now that I got your attention, it might make it easier for you to believe what I'm about to say..." Clint said, but suddenly the radio broke into the room, with a bulletin that the NORTH tower of the World Trade Center, the larger of the two towers, and collapsed into nothingness, and that hundreds more were likely dead.

Ms. Offredo and Mr. Nagle were even more depressed, and Clint growled mentally. "I know this is horrible, and this is why I feel I needed to tell you all this... If you guys could just listen closely, I'll explain everything..." he trailed off.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:28am; Canton, Ohio)

In Mr. Bergert's class, Paula and Nina were still present, and they had received the final news about the collapsing of the North Tower. Nina was immensely relieved when the fourth plane had crashed in a non-populated area, especially after hearing the news that the passengers of the plane had overcome their hijackers, but were unable to land the plane safely. From the reports, none of them had survived the crash so far.

Nina looked down, _So much death, and so much destruction... thousands have died, just like Evan's stupid religion..._ Nina had thought, thinking about her own archenemy, St. Evans, who had forged his own religion on her world. Apparently those who had prayed to 'God', as he called himself, would give more energy to the evil demon, prepping him for a strike on her world...

A strike that Nina and her other friends had stopped, but at the price of others. Her sister was gone, her friends had lost their own friends. And even she had supposable 'died', at least so she thought. Her friend, Ryu, leader of her friends, had assured her that she had not died, but Nina wasn't so certain. She thought about Ryu on her world, and how he was doing without her there to help him.

_Don't kill yourself Nina. Katt's gonna make sure he's okay._ she reassured herself. She was feeling a bit better, now that the damage had finally all been done and said. She wasn't happy to know the totals with the recent attacks, but knowing it was over was better than not knowing...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:29am; Canton, Ohio)

Nearby, moments later Teresa trembled as she walked down the track towards the back of the school. She was not happy anymore. She had to put on that act of calmness in front of Stacey and inside the school for a reason. She was even beginning to cry a little. She trudged on towards her destination with great sadness.

_I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..._ she thought to herself in grief. She had not truly come to Canton South for a good reason. She hadn't even wanted to come here.

_Damn those bastards!_ she howled mentally to herself, _How could they have such little resolve for life!_

She looked towards the Bus Garage, where Devin's auto-tech, and Dan's wielding classes were still taking place for a final period.

She looked down, _He's just a Junior in high school! What's so threatening about him that they'd do this!_

She walked in closer to the garage, and asked around for where the wielding room of the garage was, and she was pointed in that direction. She sniffed to herself.

_I wish there was another way. I don't want to kill this kid! But what else can I do?_ Teresa growled mentally to herself.

She had no choice in the matter. It was either him, or **they** would kill most of her family. They had chosen her for the job because she was both very strong, agile, beautiful, and easy to threaten with the lives of others. Teresa was just a pawn in their game, she thought. She knocked on the door to the wielding room with slightly shaking hands. One of the hands was gripping a strange electrical device, that would be used like a super-charged tazer, administering a massive 2.4 amp charge through the victim's body.

She had the choice of killing him their way, or her way. She knew her way would ensure no one else would die, so she took the less horrific path. The door opened, and she walked in...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:30am; Canton, Ohio)

Back in Mr. Bergert's class, moments later. Paula was still contemplating the events of the day in her head. She had also felt Nina's thoughts. Paula had the ability to read the thoughts of others around her, but the power was somewhat uncontrollable, allowing her to read these thoughts without others knowing for the most part, as she didn't normally even try to probe one's mind. However, hearing Nina's thoughts about the attacks being over made her nervous.

_Why do I have a dreading feeling here..._ she asked herself.

Suddenly, she began to get a bit dizzy, that Nina saw her looking very distant. Paula didn't fall over, but she began to see something that shook her mind to the core. She had saw a brown-haired woman, walking into a room, and delivering a package to the wielding class Dan was in. She then walked up to Dan, and asked him to come outside with him, and after leaving the garage, she suddenly pulled out a strange apparatus, and attached it to Dan. Paula saw Dan convulse in shock and agony several times, and a grim expression on the other girl's face. After this happened, Dan collapsed to the ground, and looked to be dead where he lay.

Paula suddenly snapped back to reality like a snap of a crocodile's teeth.

Nina looked at her worriedly, "Paula, what..."

But she couldn't finish, as Paula bolted quickly towards the back of the room, opening a door to the garage of the art room.

Nina ran after her quickly, "Paula, what're you doing!"

Nina screamed at her, getting Mr. Bergert and Ms. Litterdale's attention. Paula didn't respond, and zoomed out of the open garage door, and down the track with very high speeds. Nina looked at her with a grim expression. _ Paula, what happened to you!_

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:31am; Canton, Ohio)

Teresa had just delivered the package of all the wielding parts to the wielding teacher. She then finally saw Dan at the front of the class.

She growled mentally at herself, _Why can't there be another way to do this!_

She grimly walked up to Dan and patted him on the back. Dan looked over to her, with a depressed expression on his face. He had no doubt heard about the attacks, and wasn't happy.

"Oh, hello." he replied.

"Dan Laubacher, right?" Teresa asked simply.

"Yeah, that's me." he replied.

"May... may I see you outside for a moment?" Teresa asked.

"Sure... yeah whatever. Maybe I'll feel better about this if I get some air." Dan replied, putting down his tools and asking his teacher for a moment with Teresa, which he gave. The two walked out of the wielding class, and near the garage.

Dan looked to her, and asked, "Now exactly what did you want to ask me?"

Teresa gulped grimly, knowing that if she didn't do this, the operative watching her would likely react, shooting her and/or Dan dead, or possibly even radio the others that had her family hostage and at gun and knife point. She reached into her pocket, and began to grip her tazer. She had begun to pull it out, and zap Dan with it, and regrettably end his life. Luckily for her, she wouldn't get the chance. Unluckily for her though, she had been stopped by suddenly being punched out of her action by a strong blow, and sent flying back towards the plant life on the other side of the road, and sending her tazer flying away from her into the open, clattering nearby on the road.

Dan looked in shock at the scene, as he saw Paula lunge in and slug Teresa away from him. "PAULA! What're you doing!" Paula ignored him and looked at Teresa with extreme and barely contained anger.

"How dare you?" she screamed at the other girl. Teresa cowered in fear, realizing this other girl had been the one who punched her away.

She began to stammer, "Please! It's not what you think!"

Paula didn't believe her and growled, "Oh really? Then why were you planning to kill Dan!"

Teresa looked shocked, _She knew what I was going to do! Thank goodness some people are still vigilant around here..._ "You got it wrong, girl! I DON'T WANT to kill him. I honestly don't!" she replied in a begging voice.

Paula still didn't believe her yet, "Then WHY! Why did you try to kill him anyways! You sure looked like you were going to electrocute him with that thing!"

"YOU IDIOT! I WAS FORCED INTO IT!" Teresa screamed in back in rage and disbelief. Paula's rage suddenly began to deflate, remembering Teresa's grim expression in the vision of her shocking Dan.

Paula only THEN realized, "Oh my god... I almost..."

However her words where interrupted when a loud, deafening bang echoed in the area. Paula was suddenly caught off guard as something slammed into the side of her head. Paula had her powerlevel lowered somewhat when she attacked Teresa, not planning to kill her, so she had been knocked to the ground and hit her head on the pavement somewhat hard. She wasn't dead or unconscious, but she was too dazed and her head was hurting too much to move.

Dan went pale at the sound, "That was a gunshot!"

Teresa looked grimly, and sadly, "I'm so sorry Dan! The people who made me do this! They did that too!"

"Trust me, if you don't kill the boy now, it's gonna get worse for your family, infidel girl!" said another voice in the distance, sounding somewhat Arabic but with an American dialect.

Teresa growled in anger and fear, looking to a man walking over towards the area in the distance, as several people began to rush out of their rooms. The man was 6'2", and had an Arabic face and figure, and a scar down his cheek, and a rugged look to him. He was carrying a small rifle in his hand, a one shot, by the look of it.

He threw the rifle to the ground, and pulled out a radio on his belt, and looked to her, "Do it now! Kill priority target one! Your family dies if you don't!" the man screamed.

"Why don't you kill me yourself!" Dan growled and ran towards the man. However, despite not having another rifle, he pulled out another object, a strange tuba-looking thing, and suddenly pressed a button on the side, sending an electric looking blast at Dan. Dan's eyes went wide in surprised as he got hit. However instead of being jolted to high heaven, the electric flooded out and surrounded him in a field, pinning him to the ground, rendering him unable to move.

"You will die!" the man growled back at Dan, "You will never become a threat to my leaders!"

Devin suddenly rushed out, and saw the scene before him, with Paula lying on her side in the street, too dazed and hurt to get up, another girl sprawled on the ground nearby, and Dan, apparently paralyzed in a restraining field. He looked to the tuba-wielding man.

"Who the fuck are you!" Devin growled, "Did you do this to my friends!"

"Shut up and leave or you'll get the same treatment, infidel American!" the man shouted.

"How about YOU'LL get my fist in your face!" Devin growled and darted at the man.

However the man quickly shot another electrical blast. Devin saw it and dodged it, but he had not seen the second electrical blast that had been meant to catch him from the side, and took the hit, now being incased by the paralyzing field, and pinned to the ground.

"You are weak, American fool!" the man growled, and looked to Teresa again, "Kill BOTH of them, and make it quickly! Or your family dies!"

Teresa gulped, fighting back tears, and pulled out another weapon, a handgun with 6 bullets inside, and pointed at Dan and Devin shakingly. She closed her eyes as she put her hand on the trigger. However she would again luck out. The Arabic man suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching his chest, as a blur of yellow, blue and purple materialized in a few feet away from him, forming Nina, who had blasted the man in the chest with a burning blast of energy, tearing through his body, not quite enough to kill him instantly, but enough to mortally wound him, and knock his tuba-like weapon out of his hands, and to the ground, shattering it, and dispelling the fields around Devin and Dan, and the man himself falling backwards in the middle of the cleared out road, blood oozing from his upper chest, and he began to breath heavily.

Nina looked at him, and grabbed him by his collar, lifting him to his feet, her eyes literally burning with flames at him, "YOU... YOU SERVE THEM DON'T YOU!" she screamed.

The shocked and dying man, looking at her with surprise, suddenly formed a sinister, crazy look in his eyes, and a smirk of evil on the rest of his face. "YES. You are smart! I am of the same breed who attacked the towers, the pentagon, and those fools on the other plane! Our kind is everywhere! You killing me makes little difference in the long run, bitch! Our hidden operative was quite accurate with her information!"

"Well you picked the WRONG people to mess with, you sick bastard! It's too bad you picked a place with 'Misfits' around it." Nina growled, "Who is your leader, scumbag?"

"Hahaha!" the man growled, "I am a proud follower of Allah and Al-queda, the holy warriors of the east. You American Infidels needed a wake up call. Oh yes you did..." he began to cough slightly, his wound sapping his energy.

"Al-queda will fall then. You are an idiot to give information to anyone!" Nina growled.

The man's smirk only looked more crazier now. "Who said any of you would live to do anything?" he said to her, much to her surprise.

He then reached out into his pocket, pulling out a strange two button detonator, and he mouthed one final phrase to her, "Allah... Akbar..." and then hit both buttons at once.

Suddenly, Nina felt herself being blasted away from where she was, as the man exploded into a large plume of flames. Apparently a bomb had been attached to him. Luckily, Nina was the only person who had been hit, and she slammed into the pavement behind her, but got back up, rubbing her head in pain.

Paula finally got back to her senses to see the explosion throw Nina to the ground nearby, and she rushed to Nina. "You okay!" she asked.

"That bastard had a bomb attached to him." Nina stated, "He must've been trying to take someone out."

"Yeah, Dan I think." Paula replied, then looking to the trembling, and crying Teresa.

Paula looked at her apologetically, and walked up to her, holding out her hand. Teresa realized that Paula wasn't mad at her anymore, and took it, got lifted to her feet.

"I'm sorry..." Paula said to her, "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm Teresa Hamilton. I'm a UPS delivery driver from the main district, but those terrorist bastards found a way to force me to try to act out their little game against your friend, by threatening to kill my family if I didn't." Teresa reacted, and then looked down in sadness, "It's possibly they might be dead already."

At that point, Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Dusty, Dwayne and Steve had all flown in to the scene of the attack, and a few bystanders were following on foot from behind, noticing all the calamity.

"What the fuck happened!" Alex asked in shock at the scene.

Nina looked over to him, and mouthed only one word, "Al-queda."

At the sound of that comment, all of the people around Nina had mixed expressions, some were enraged, others were shocked, others looked extremely grim. Alex was pissed, Vernon was pissed, Jason looked like a volcano about to erupt, Devin was the same, Dan was grim, Dwayne was about to scream feral rage, Steve stomped his foot and cursed, and so on. To say the least, NO ONE was happy to hear that.

"What were THEY doing here!" asked Vernon, clenching a fist.

Paula decided to speak up, "Teresa here..." she looked to Teresa, who looked back at the others grimly, "Was apparently being forced to come here, and she was given orders by them to kill Dan. We don't know WHY they were after him specifically, but I had a vision of her shocking him, and stopped her. However one of their operatives was nearby, apparently led here by some other hidden operative we haven't found yet, to make sure Teresa succeeded. I was shot to the ground, and unable to move, Dan and Devin tried to attack this guy, but be had something that apparently restrained them in some field of sorts, lying in pieces over there." Paula then pointed to the remains of the man's tuba-like gun and continued, "Then Nina shot him through the upper chest with a fatal blast. She found out about Al-queda from him, and then he self-destructed, expecting for it to kill her."

"The news gets worse." Nina replied, "Al-queda is responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and plane that crashed in Pennsylvania." Needless to say, none of the other Misfits wanted to hear that.

"THOSE... THOSE FUCKING FAGGOT BASTARDS!" Alex screamed in rage, "I KNEW IT... I FUCKING KNEW IT!"

"Alex, CALM DOWN. You screaming about this is only going to make it worse!" Goku's voice suddenly echoed in from nearby.

The other Misfits turned and looked up to see Goku, Vegeta, Radditz, Heero, Piccolo, Mr. Buu and #17 landing on the ground near them. Needless to say, many of the anime fans at the school recognized them, but many thought at first it was just a sick ploy. The Misfits in question ignored their stares.

"Why are you seven here!" asked Jason.

"We need to all meet up and talk, immediately." Goku said in a very serious voice.

However, their idea for a meeting would be interrupted when Piccolo's ears stirred. "What the? Why do I hear beeping!" he asked out loud.

"What are you talking about, Piccolo?" asked Goku.

"I hear something steadily beeping." he said, following his ears, and walking around, trying to locate the source of the noise. He then stopped when he got near Teresa, and his eyes widened, "Those bastards!" Teresa realized somehow what was going on, feeling on her stomach, and feeling a very slight vibration.

"GOD NO! That guy was able to arm the bomb strapped to me!" Teresa howled in both anger and fear.

"WHAT!" the others looked to her.

"That guy said to me that I was to also wear this..." she said, struggling to rip the bomb off from under her shirt, attached to her stomach, "and that if all else failed, it would do the job they intended!"

She then ripped the bomb free and stared at it grimly, "He told he me it was an experimental bomb, that it would be a form of backup, in case I failed, and in case they additionally failed. The bomb has enough energy to... to hit anything in an 12 mile radius."

"**WHAT!**" Clint went pale in the face, "ALL of Canton, and most of Stark, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Carroll and Medina County will be gone if that thing explodes! How much time is left on it!"

Teresa fumbled with the bomb until she saw a timer, an digital timer. She went pale, "Less... than 30 seconds!"

"**SHIT!**" Clint screamed and made a beeline and grabbing the bomb out of her hands.

"There's nothing you can do to stop it! I'm sorry..." Teresa looked pale and sad, as she slumped to the ground in defeat.

_No, I've got to get this thing out of here, NOW._ Clint thought to himself, and looked up. Without saying a word, he quickly flared up his energy and shot straight up into the air like a rocket shuttle.

"**CLINT! COME BACK!**" Goku screamed at him as he saw Clint fade out of his view.

Clint hadn't heard a word of what Goku had said. He was too focused on getting that bomb out of the atmosphere. With only 16 seconds left, he realized that the bomb possessed enough power to kill anyone with less than a 520,000 powerlevel if at point blank range. If the bomb went off anywhere close to his friends, only Goku, Piccolo, #17, Buu, Vegeta, Nina and Paula would still be alive out of everyone in an 8-mile radius, and the latter two would be badly injured as well.

0:15...

Clint shot up more, trying to accelerate as fast as possible, trying to both get the bomb, and then himself safely away from each other, while saving his friends at the same time.

0:14...

_I'm not moving fast enough! I'll never be able to get away once I get far enough!_

0:13...

Clint growled, getting ready to accept his fate, knowing that at least he could get the bomb safely away from the others in time.

0:12...

Clint began to think back on his 17 year life in Canton, and all of his friends from the past, including Alex, Devin, Jason, Vernon, Dan, Dusty, and even Nina and the other newer Misfits. _Stay alive for me you guys! I'll make you proud!_ he thought grimly.

0:11...

Clint suddenly felt his energy expanding slowly, and his speed picking up.

0:10...

Clint's power continued to pick up, only a couple miles from his destination.

0:09...

Clint's power now surged with grim determination, and his speed further increased.

0:08...

_Gotta hurry!_

0:07...

Clint's power STILL continued to climb, and he picked up even more speed.

0:06...

Clint suddenly reached as much speed and strength as he could muster.

0:05...

"Finally. I'll always remember you guys! You Al-queda bastards can kiss my ass!" Clint then suddenly tossed the bomb at an upward angle with as much strength as he could possibly muster.

0:04...

The bomb was soon well out of range of doing any damage to anyone below.

0:03...

Clint realized then, _I might still be able to get back alive if I MOVE!_ and quickly he turned direction and sped back downward.

0:02...

Clint was still moving at a speed and power that he felt was well beyond his usual limits. He felt almost 20 times stronger. Maybe his adrenaline had picked up so much in those last 10 seconds.

0:01...

Clint closed his eyes, knowing that if he wasn't going to get hit, that he would be blinded from the explosion.

0:00...

"GANGWAY BELOW!" he screamed as...

**BOOOOOOOM!**

The bomb's massive energy erupted in a blinding, massive explosion. Luckily, the bomb was basically out of the Earth's atmosphere. Unfortunately, Clint, despite only getting hit by the shockwave, had lost control over his energy, and went plummeting to the ground even faster than he was expecting.

_SHIT! I'M GONNA CRATER!_ he thought to himself grimly, as the uppermost view of Ohio zoomed into view, quickly replaced by a more detailed view of Stark County from above. Then moments later he saw the school coming in at him fast.

He realized that he was going to burrow into the near middle of the football field. _Well... I guess this is it!_ Clint thought as he crashed violently into the school football field.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:46am; Canton, Ohio)

Alex had saw Clint crashing into the field, and flew over to him quickly. The others followed him quickly.

"Clint, damn you! Why did you have to go and do that! You could be dead for all I know!" Alex growled in anger.

"He's not dead, just unconscious, boy." Vegeta's voice came in, "And at least he did his job. We're all still alive."

"How can you tell he's still alive!" Alex asked.

"You can sense ki, right? He still has a ki signature, it's just not terribly strong at the moment." Vegeta grumbled back. Goku quickly dug Clint out from the crater, but his eyes went wide in shock when he saw Clint.

"This is... impossible!" he said out loud, enough that the others heard him.

"What happened, Kakarott?" Vegeta asked, landing close to the crater, but when he looked down at Clint, he answered his own question. Vegeta went agape at the sight.

Alex landed nearby, and asked, "What! Is he...?"

"No... he's something else..." Vegeta stammered.

Alex looked down and gasped, "How the fuck is that possible!"

The reason all three of them were so shocked was that laying in the crater, Clint was different now. His hair was no longer dark brown, but a golden-yellow, although with a slight shade of green in it as well, and standing up on end. His eyes were closed, but he was still surging with more power than he had over 5 minutes ago.

He had also transformed into a Super Saiya-jin. But wait! That wasn't possible! Clint for the most part was very sure he was human, and had no clue that he was of any other race. Goku also seemed to agree with his, noticing that while he had transformed to that state, Clint's ki definitely did not feel Saiya-jin, but it wasn't quite a fully human ki, but the majority of it still was.

"This can't be possible! Vegeta, he's not even a Saiya-jin, so how could he transform!" Alex asked in shock.

"You're asking me!" Vegeta said back in surprise, "This is new to me as well!" The other Misfits had gathered up, and Vernon and Jason were shocked,

"Woah! He must've put out a lot of power getting that bomb out of the way!" Jason said.

"Yeah, but he transformed as well! Is he a Saiya-jin?" Vernon asked.

"No... he is not." Vegeta said, much to their shock.

"Then HOW!" Jason asked. Vegeta shook his head in confusion. Suddenly, Clint's eyes snapped open, but he was in a good deal of pain, but he was still able to pull himself to his feet.

"Owww... that sucked. I must be alive, I still feel pain, and you guys are here. I know the bomb didn't hit anything, except me with the aftershock." he said to everyone, and himself.

"You okay, man?" asked Dusty to him from nearby, "You look like you got the wind knocked out of you, and you also apparently have changed."

"What're you talking about?" asked Clint.

Goku pulled out a mirror, the same one Alex had looked at when he had gone Super Saiya-jin, "Take a look for yourself."

Clint took the mirror, and went agape at his reflection, but then got calm again, "THAT must explain the burst of power I received when I was flying the bomb away. I didn't even pay attention with the direness of what was going on."

"Yeah, but you're not even a Saiya-jin!" Devin replied.

"I know that, Devin. I don't know what happened. I know I've seen Alex and Vernon transform once yesterday, but I didn't give much to it at the time. Something is different about me, more than I realized. I now know... I must train more, and both get stronger and harness this power better." he said, but then felt his stomach rumbling, "Oh crap... I'm hungry. That must've burned a lot from my energy."

Most of his friends sweatdropped, and some of them smacked themselves on the forehead in agitation.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 10:52am; Canton, Ohio)

He growled in annoyance. The burly, 6 foot and 3 inch man wasn't happy to have not received a report back from his ally at Canton South High School. He had not been outside, so he had no clue that his ally's final plan had failed, and that their target was still alive. He looked back to the captives in the room: Teresa's family, all bound and gagged, and surrounded by cases of dynamite, in case they were to be killed for whatever reason.

"What is taking him so long! Our other operative told our targets would be easy prey!" he growled in an American accent, "He should've radioed me by now!"

He growled, and pulled out his cell phone, and went to dial his ally's number. All he got was "The number you have dialed, has been disconnected."

The man scowled, "He failed... they failed! He's still alive! I must alert the boss!"

However at that moment, his heart chilled when he heard a menacing chuckle behind him, "Oh, you won't need to do that. Your friend failed, and Dan is still alive..." the man turned around suddenly, only to see a man with long, spiky hair, wearing a dark black armor, staring him right in the face.

The man went to pull out his detonator, but all he saw before he drew his last breath was Radditz gutting him through the stomach with his fist. The captive relatives of Teresa's looked on in fear, as the other man slid off of Radditz's now blood-soaked fist.

Radditz then looked to the tied up family members, and gave a less menacing smile, "Don't worry... it's truly over. Teresa's alive, and so's everyone else, including you."

They looked at him with more relieved expressions. Radditz grumbled as he cleaned the Al-queda member's blood from his hands, "I hate terrorists... I hate them so much!" he grumbled, and then he went to untie Teresa's family...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 11:21am; Canton, Ohio)

After helping Clint to get on his feet, Goku had given him a sensu bean, and proceeded to berate him like he had Jason and Alex days ago, for overexerting himself in that last crisis. Clint apologized, finally able to revert to his normal state after healing, but he still wanted to eat something. After about 30 minutes, they had found out that the Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani, had ordered lower Manhattan evacuated. Some firemen and other rescue workers had apparently died, and other news on damage done to the other near by towers by the debris of the main towers. It was still a grim day, despite averting the disaster in their own area. After hearing that, they found Radditz coming back to them, carrying Teresa's mother, grandfather, father and little brother on his shoulders and back.

Teresa and her family reunited cheerfully, at least happy something good had turned out that day. After that, the school quickly went to help the Misfits out, and let them into the nurses office. After all of them had fully recovered, Mr. Knight, the principal of the school, and a friend of Clint and the Misfits, offered to let them eat free as only part of a big award for saving the entire area from destruction. They told him that they were going to discuss things, and come back to him with another important decision. This led to the current time, now the entire group of Misfits, including Teresa, who was allowed to be with them, believing she owed Radditz a little for making sure her family was alive. Virgil had also heard all the news, and demanded he'd be there to give his two cents.

"We definitely have been shown a definition of true evil today..." Nina said to her friends, starting it off, "These people have taken thousands of lives in New York City and Washington D.C., and they tried to kill all of us, they tried to kill one of our own... they tried to kill Dan...4"

"Yeah, that bothers me greatly, why did they target Dan?" Steve asked in utter confusion.

"The man never said why, but it chills me that these people would specifically target an innocent kid." Teresa grumbled in reply.

"Dan's not exactly innocent, in fact, none of us are... most of us belong to a group known as the 'Misfits'. We are either loved or hated here, but we recently underwent an important change in our lives, one that changed the way we think about the world around us." Clint replied, "And now, these people have again changed the way we think. We trained a little before this, but even then we weren't expecting anything like this to happen to us anytime soon, especially not so close to home."

Alex piped in, "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that after this, I'm definitely going to train myself more and more, so Al-queda doesn't try this shit again with us."

Vernon replied, "Same here Alex. I didn't even get a chance to do anything this time."

Jason growled, "I can't believe they tried to kill Dan, and all of Canton and northeast Ohio with him!"

Dan growled, "Trying to kill me is one thing, but forcing another like Teresa to do it is horrible, and I could never call it an act of any god!"

"Yeah, I can agree, that if 'Allah' REALLY thinks killing others is the answer than he's no better than St. Evans!5" Nina growled.

"Who's that?" Paula asked.

"Basically, he was the greatest evil on my world. He even forged his own personal religion, that had over a few centuries had grown to an organized religion. Whenever one prayed to him, his dark power grew stronger. We recently destroyed him, but many died, by his hand, or by the hand of his followers. Evans and Al-queda seem similar, as these people seem to worship this 'Allah' god." Nina replied.

"Well, it's safe to say you're not clueless to this stuff." The Rock replied, "I just hope my family is okay."

"Obviously, even Damiaou would never do something like this without some warning." Piccolo spoke in. Paula looked at him with a bit of a grim frown, the name of Damiaou striking a nerve in her. Piccolo knew this, and regretted having to bring it up, but he felt it was a necessary evil.

"You're right thought Piccolo. Only Frieza ever did anything possibly equal or worse in nature." Goku replied grimly, and Vegeta growled at the mention of Frieza's tainted name, "And even then, Frieza did it for himself, not because some crazy figment of his imagination told him to!"

"Yeah Kakarott, this 'Allah' has to be some hoax these people are using to convince themselves they're being right in their actions, and to convince other non-extremists to try to become like them." Vegeta said with a scowl on his face.

However, at that point, fate wasn't quite finished with the Misfits. One more problem was going to present itself, a problem Alex might have wanted to solve earlier. Jackson had suddenly walked in from the entrance of the lunchroom near the office, and he looked pissed as hell at all of them. He scowled and walked up to them quickly. Nina sighed in annoyance.

"GO AWAY, JACKSON. You are not in this conversation." Alex growled, watching him approach.

"Oh just shut up, ExplodingMcCripple." Jackson growled, not caring, "Thanks to your stupid freak-loving friend, this entire place was almost annihilated!" he growled at Dan, and continued, "I'm surprised the school's even letting you mutants stay here after what you caused!" he then looked at Teresa, "And you're just a spineless wimp!"

Teresa growled, "How dare you, you little bastard!"

"No, how dare YOU." Jackson immediately growled back, "If YOU hadn't let them force you into this, none of this shit would've happened!"

"And let my family DIE? No thank you. I have a heart, unlike you seem to show." Teresa growled.

"WHO THE FUCK CARES! THREE OR FOUR, MAYBE FIVE PEOPLE DIE! BIG FUCKING DEAL! BETTER THAN MILLIONS DYING!" Jackson retaliated with a burning rage, "BESIDES, YOUR FAMILY WERE PROBABLY WORTHLESS PIGS ANYWAYS, AS ARE YOU!"

Teresa was about to bellow at him and throw herself at him to choke his life out, but Paula growled, "That is enough, you racist, pig-headed, retarded fool! How many 'worthless pigs' do you think were inside those towers? Those planes! The Pentagon! The world does NOT revolve around you, little boy."

Jackson was taken back, and seething in anger, "Shut up you! You have no right to speak, freak's-best-friend! Anyone who is personally friends with her automatically lose all right to their opinion in this place!"

"Whatever. This 'freak' saved our lives. She killed the guy behind it, and Clint saved the entire county from going atomic. These freaks and freak-lovers saved your life, and you just don't like the accept the fact you are just a head full of empty lies and insults." Steve growled at him turning around in anger. Jackson was about to growl back, but then his eyes almost turned red when he recognized Steve.

"WHAT! YOU... HOW THE **FUCK** CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU HANG AROUND WITH THESE FREAKS, AUSTIN! EVERY SINCE THE WINGED WHORE ARRIVED HERE, SHE'S BEEN A CURSE TO US ALL! OF COURSE, CONSIDERING YOU BETRAYED MY IMAGE OF YOU, YOU'RE NOW AN OFFICIAL FREAK IN MY EYES, STONE COLD. CONGRADU-FUCKING-LATIONS!" Jackson screamed.

Vegeta looked at him with a seething rage with the loudest voice he could muster, "**THAT IS ENOUGH, YOU STUPID BRAT! HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PASS JUDGMENT ON US? YOU'RE THE WEAKLING IN THIS ROOM! YOU'D PROBABLY GO ALONG WELL WITH THOSE FUCKING TERRORISTS THAT JUST ATTACKED US!**"

Jackson just stared at Vegeta in shock, starting to get a bit nervous at his voice, but he still was too pissed to care, "Perhaps... perhaps I would fit in well with them... perhaps I could stop giving a fuck that they attacked us. Maybe... maybe I'll just JOIN them to spite you! If it'll make that freak want to kill herself, I'd GLADLY DO IT. Those people in the towers... some of their deaths are tragic, but you want my HONEST opinion! Most of them are destined to FAIL. FAIL, like all of you retched fucktards who think you mean something in life. Those people who fail deserve to DIE. THOSE TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THOSE TOWERS DESERVED TO DIE!"

THAT was the last straw. Jackson suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him by a fist to his stomach, doubling him over. He coughed out some blood, as Nina grabbed him by the throat, and slammed his head against the wall with enough force to almost knock him out. Nina's eyes were literally blazing red, and she was beginning to charge her ki to massive levels.

_Nina! Crap!_ Paula replied to her actions, realizing her powerlevel had surged almost to around 350 million degrees.

Nina continued, making sure not to fully choke Jackson, but enough to put a point through his head, "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR SHIT! IT'S ONE THING TO HATE **ME**, BUT WHAT THE HELL DID THE OTHERS EVER DO TO YOU!" Jackson was unable to reply, barely able to breath, while Nina continued, "NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. DO YOU REALLY HATE ME THAT MUCH! DO YOU **REALLY** HATE ME THAT MUCH!" Jackson, despite his condition, tried to shake an obstinate yes at her6.

Nina growled with her teeth bared, almost to the point of fangs present, "WELL, PERHAPS IF I **KILLED YOU** YOU'D HATE ME EVEN MORE? WOULD YOU! MAYBE I SHOULD DO THAT! IT SOUNDS VERY APPEALING TO ME RIGHT NOW!" Nina growled with her rage at it's peak, "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING I'VE GONE THROUGH! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, YOU DON'T KNOW MY HISTORY, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE HELL I'VE GONE THROUGH! IF YOU HAD TO UNDERGO THE SHIT I DID BEFORE I CAME TO HERE, YOU WOULD BE **DEAD**, FLAT OUT DEAD! MAYBE YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY FIND A **REAL** REASON TO HATE SOMEONE, AND NOT THEIR FRICKIN' LOOKS!" Nina said, on the verge of blasting his head right off his shoulders. The other Misfits were just staring at her in shock, and Alex's expression was a slightly satisfying one.

"I tried to warn you Jackson, you stupid 'tard." Alex said a-matter-of-factly.

"NINA, ENOUGH." Paula roared at her, aiming what looked to be a bluish blast of energy, in the case she'd need to use it, "I know you hate that kid more and more, and I know he needs to be put in a mental institution, but he's just a harmless bully who has to use words! He's not a terrorist, not physically. Maybe he tries mind games, but you're BETTER than that. If you kill him, who knows what could happen to you."

Nina looked back and forth between Paula, and Jackson's struggling form. Nina's anger drained away, and she dropped Jackson to the ground, who was breathing heavily.

"You... you aren't even a grease spot on the floor of this planet." Nina growled, and then looked to the others, as Jackson bedraggledly got to his feet and staggered towards the exit of the lunch room.

Before he left the room, he uttered one final sentence, "You will all fail... you are... failures..." and he was gone, not content to bother them again for a long while.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 12:05pm; Canton, Ohio)

After another 30 minutes of talking, the Misfits and Teresa and her family had made their way to Mr. Knight's office, letting him know about both Jackson's actions against them in the lunch room, and that they had made a major decision. Mr. Knight assured them that Jackson was going to likely be suspended, possibly even expelled for the year. He also asked what they had come up with for their decision. Clint decided that he would tell him, knowing him the best out of all the Misfits. The two sat down his Mr. Knight's office.

"Mr. Knight, in light of the recent events, I and the other Misfits... we've decided that we're going to stray away from here for a while. Mind you we're not dropping out or anything... we don't want that... it's just... in the last hours, the events of this day have changed us so much, and the entire county was put in danger. We have to stick to our guns back at home. We have to train and train, and prepare for the possibility someday that more attacks, equal to or worse than this, could happen. You know from us that we had started this before we came back today, but the attacks have changed our perspective on things. We will try to stop by once in a while. Tell Mr. Summers, Mr. Bergert, Mr. Miller, Mr. Blike, Ms. Stryker, and our other teachers, that we're really sorry about this. Please just don't tell them all the details. I don't want them getting hurt..." Clint explained.

Mr. Knight looked at him with a grim expression, "If you feel this is the best way... I wish you all good luck... just promise me... to take care of one another. Don't let each other down over the time, and visit us occasionally, okay Clint?"

Clint smiled, a bit genuine, "We'll do that Mr. Knight..." he got up, and began to walk out of the room, and turned back to him, "We will... take care Mr. Knight... take care of everyone here... please."

Mr. Knight nodded, "I will. Good luck, and Godspeed." Clint grimly turned back and left the room, with much depression... He hoped it would not be the final time he would ever see Mr. Knight...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 12:11pm; Canton, Ohio)

Clint walked out of the office, and looked to all of his fellow Misfits, "I've told him. He wishes us much luck, tells us to watch each other... and to come back alive." 

Everyone looked at him and then each other solemnly, even Teresa and her family were determined. She had possibly thought about some training with Radditz. She wasn't planning to be a full-pledged Misfit, but she wanted to make some kind of difference. Maybe she could spread the help to the rest of the city. 

Even Virgil was opting to train, now feeling personally involved after the attacks. 

Alex had a grim resolve to train as much as he could to keep the attackers at bay. 

Nina and Paula had agreed that they would started training again, for the first time since either of their last major conflicts in the past, and would train each other in various ways. 

Dan and Teresa agreed to be training partners together with Radditz. 

Vernon was sticking to his guns with Piccolo and #17. 

Jason was now determined to see if he might have the Saiya-jin blood in him. 

Dwayne was definitely planning to ask his family if they could move to Canton, as he was definitely not planning on leaving his friends now. 

Steve had a similar resolve, now realizing that wresting was all in good fun, but he was now officially as one would call, a hero. 

Goku and Vegeta would continue to guide their friends to higher plateaus. 

Clint vowed to gain understanding of his new ability to turn Super Saiya-jin. 

Dusty would train more with Dwayne, Steve, and anyone else who would train him. 

Devin vowed to get in more training, and develop some unique moves of his own, and other methods to help out. 

Heero was also with the same resolve as Alex and Steve. 

Buu would continue to train as much as possible as well. 

The morale of the Misfits had changed from a cherry one to a more serious one, but they would try to keep in good spirits. As they all looked to the heavens for answers, lifting off into the air, and all flying off back towards Goku and Vegeta's house, Teresa and her family in tow.

They had to keep in good spirits... if not, it would likely be the end of them all...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1 Jackson** aka "Jackass", aka that antagonist I told you about in Saga 1's footnotes. P.S. He is NOT a real person, at least not one I really know. He's my property, goofballs. :P

**2** **_IMPORTANT:_** The reason our heroes don't end up able to do much to help the people of 9/11 is because of several reasons, logical and story related. Many fanfictions I've seen with 9/11 make too many attempts to negate the entire tragedy, which ends up being an insult to the events. I can understand the heroes could save a few stray people here and there, but the majority of the damage and loss of life occurs too fast for them to really prevent everything. Besides, it's not like most of them can just know when and where the planes will strike, do they:P

**3** **_IMPORTANT:_** I know, I know... 9/11 probably wouldn't seem like something extremely serious to the Z-senshi, at least not in comparison to the horrors and villains they've faced, but you still need to remember that Goku for one does not put up with people who kill innocents, terrorists or intergalactic tyrants alike. Piccolo and Vegeta are probably more pissed at the fact that such 'weaklings' possess the power to inflict such a large amount of damage. #17 is closely in touch with his human roots in Misfits, so he of course takes the attacks in a slightly more personal manner.

**4** _**IMPORTANT:**_ Al-queda obviously never really attacked Dan in real life, and the extra attack is meant to add to the "Alternate Universe" aspect in Misfits, and to give them a true motivation to get better, as so they decided to prevent stuff like this from happening ever again.

**5** **St. Evans** A more "God"-sounding name for "DeathEvan". The final boss of Breath of Fire 2, the same game Nina is from, for you uneducated new-school gaming goofs. :P He is the 'son' of of the self-proclaimed goddess Myria, who appeared in the 1st and 3rd games in the same series, and probably more.

**6** I know it seems like pretty much no one would be THAT angry and enraged at those who are so different, but Jackson actually has good reason to hate Nina as much as he does, or at least he thinks he does. One day you will all learn exactly where his true hatred at her comes from. Her appearance isn't quite as much the sole reason for his hate, as our encounters with him might lead you to think.


	8. Part 7: Pissing The Depression Away

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa © Me  
-----------------------------

Part 7: Pissing The Depression Away

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 1:23pm; Canton, Ohio)

After their departure from Canton South High School, the Misfits and their current allies all flew over to Alex's house and stopped there for a short time. With the looming disaster of the day over their heads, depression was not uncommon amongst them. But they decided that they should go over a few more things before they would finally commit to what they would call their new training regimen. On the way back, Radditz had been asked by Teresa about some training, and Radditz, realizing she and Dan were in the same boat for the moment due to their little meeting back as CSHS, decided he would train Dan and her both in some of the things he knew. He warned them that while the training methods of the recent days were fresh in his head, that there would me much more for him to learn, and he suggested that he was probably not the best trainer for them, but Teresa felt he was the best choice, since he had found and rescued her family from Al-queda.

Clint had decided he was probably going to join up with Devin and Dusty's little gang and train more of his powers. He needed to get a hold on where the hell he had learned to go Super Saiya-jin from. He also needed to ask his parents about this development, as Alex and even Vernon had. Vernon had asked his mother and father about his Saiya-jin roots back on the 9th. His parents was totally confused about his comments, and said they didn't know anything about him crashing to Earth.

Although Vernon could swear when he looked at his mother, she almost looked like she was hiding something from him. However he realized that his parents may in fact really have had no clue to the origin of his powers. He realized that he was gonna have to up the training session. Knowing he could go SSJ, he realized it was possible he could become a Super Saiya-jin 2 as well, and that would give him quite a boost in the fight against his enemies.

Alex had similar thoughts on his mind about wanting to become a Super Saiya-jin 2, and he had also thought further beyond, also imagining himself as a long-haired Super Saiya-jin 3, or a fur-covered Super Saiya-jin 4. In fact, that last thought made him wonder. It sounded from the look of things that most of the characters had come from a time during the ten years between the end of Z and GT. He wondered if Goku and Vegeta might have even known a level such as SSJ4 even existed, and if they could actually do it1.

"Goku! Vegeta! I need to know something!" Alex called over to them.

"Huh? What do you want to know?" asked Goku.

"What are your strongest Super Saiya-jin levels as of now?" Alex asked back.

"Me? I can go Super Saiya-jin 3. Vegeta, he can at least reach 2, but I don't know anymore." Goku replied.

Vegeta grumbled, "No Kakarott, I haven't found a way to go 3 like you have yet! It's been getting under my skin for several years."

Alex thought to himself, _Hmm... so they don't know about SSJ4! Sweet! Maybe that knowledge will give me the way to one day surpass them! If I can do it before them, not even Goku would be able to defeat me in a fight!_

As for Devin, Dusty, Dan, Steve and Dwayne, they had talked it over with Clint and Heero, and they had eventually agreed to add those two to their training kosher, and they even at Dusty's suggestion had decided to add Virgil to their sessions. Perhaps they could teach him a few things, or even teach him a couple of wrestling moves, Dusty had wondered to himself. However Dusty had also been terribly shaken inside. Not just from the events of the attacks on New York, D.C, and CSHS, but also from Nina's enraged outburst at Jackson less than 2 hours ago. He still maintained his crush for the winged girl, but he definitely realized that she was not one to piss off, lest he end up plastered on the wall like Jackson had.

He had asked Piccolo about what her powerlevel was, and Piccolo grumbled to him, saying "At the peak of her rage, she would've been able to waste me like I was a fly if it had been me and not that jackass."

Dusty knew that was WAY more than his powerlevel, even if it wasn't an exact number yet, and Piccolo had flown up to Dan and started discussing over that little bet they had made.

"Well Piccolo, it looks like you're gonna be teaching me and Dusty your Makankosoppo beam soon." Dan smirked, and then his face became serious, "Because there is no way I'm gonna let what almost happened today go unanswered."

"Bleh, I know, I know! Shut up and stop rubbing it in my face!" Piccolo growled, not because of the bet, but because he was tired of being reminded of today's tragedy, and the fact all his 'friends' were almost vaporized by a powerful bomb. _Clint, what the hell are you! You are not a Saiya-jin, but I sense your body is fully human, and that makes **no** sense at all!_

Nina and Paula were along the others near each other. Both had also vowed they were going to get stronger now, and stop lounging around like they had for the past week. They had realized, even if they were going to probably be perceived as the weaker ones by the others, that they should try their best to prove their friends wrong. The two girls had agreed that they were going to train each other. However the problem was, they were wondering how to do so without too many interruptions from their friends.

Although that probably didn't seem too much of a problem, they knew the others wouldn't train 24/7, even in the midst of their new regimen. Nina however had a good deal of knowledge of Canton, and even southern Akron due to her 2 months of being a Misfit, and also largely because she could already fly. She had a few ideas for some possible far away training spots for her and Paula to use. However both agreed that they were going to part ways for a short while before Nina would call Paula to start their first session the next day.

"Hey, I'm going to head off home. Good luck with whatever training you're going to do today guys." Nina said, "Radditz, I'll be in and out if you decide to come back to the house."

"Very well, I'll probably get started on Teresa's catch up training. She needs to be taught the ki usage and flight, and all that good stuff." the older brother of Goku replied back.

Paula also lifted up into the air. She realized from talking to Nina that she needed to learn more about Canton's geography, and all that stuff, "I'm going as well. I need to check around this place, and get more of a feel for it. Talk later Goku, Piccolo, and all the rest of you." she said, and fly off at a high speed.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 1:34pm; Canton, Ohio)

After a while, Dusty, Devin, Clint, Heero, Virgil, Steve and Dwayne had flared up their ki and flew off to Dusty's house to begin training Virgil to catch up. They figured maybe Clint could help in teaching the youngest of the Misfits how to use his powers, considering at least Devin knew how to also sense and mask Ki, and all the other's could explain to him how to find and use his ki.

However Devin was still a good deal annoyed at Virgil from the night before and his little phone pranks, and he decided he would teach Virgil some other time. He was also a little sore at the rest of his training group that they had neglected to stay around to train Ki sense and Ki masking, so he figured he'd teach them all on a better day when he wasn't so pissed at the idiots in the world.

As they reached Dusty's house, they had all landed there, but they quickly realized a problem at hand: Virgil was much bigger around than Dan, and his presence would leave little room to spare, especially with Devin not being the thinnest person himself. They sweatdropped at each other, and realized something.

"You know, we need a better place to train." Dwayne spoke up.

"Yeah, I know what you mean now." Dusty replied.

"Any good ideas? The rest of you know this city better than the rest of us." Steve added.

"Hmmm..." Clint thought to himself, "I used to live further north in Canton. I might know a place or two for us to train, if they'll let us."

"Lead the way Clint." Devin replied, realizing this was all true. They desperately needed a good training location if they would prepare to fight back against Al-queda and any other serious threats down the road.

As they looked around Devin suddenly perked up, "I got an idea for a training ground. I know of a large vacant lot near my own house." Heero and Virgil looked on, as did Clint, Dusty, Dwayne and Steve.

"Well then by all means lead the way." Heero said, eager to get started. They all turned back southwards, and flew off towards Inner Drive, the area where Devin lived, and where this lot was said to be.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 1:45pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at Alex's house, Goku and Piccolo had began a mental conversation

_/Goku... With all this shit going on, I think it's time we told Vegeta, Alex, Vernon and #17 about our little secret./_ Piccolo started.

_/Jason, right/_ Goku asked back for confirmation.

_/Yes./_ Piccolo replied.

"Hey, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo, Jason over here. I We need to talk to you five." Goku spoke out loud to his comrades.

"What's going on, Kakarott?" asked Vegeta, having a feeling he wasn't going to like the news.

After the seven were all gathered, Piccolo started up, "We have to tell you something: Earlier this week, Goku and I found another person to train. That would be Jason. He's not as strong as either Alex or Vernon yet, but he's close behind them."

"What! Jason's training too?" asked Alex.

Vegeta looked at Goku and grumbled, "Is this what you were telling me when you said 'I'll tell you another time'?" he asked Goku harshly.

"Yeah, that's why I was heading off after training sessions." Goku admitted.

"Piccolo, why train him?" asked #17, "We've already both got Vernon to worry about!"

Vernon merely looked on and spoke, "I guess that explains Jason's strength. I had a feeling he'd been training when I saw him almost break the desk in Mr. Summers' room in half."

"You knew!" Jason replied.

"Well, I was gonna eventually ask you about it, but then all the attacks occurred and took my attention elsewhere." Vernon replied.

"Kakarott, Namek, why are you telling us this now!" asked Vegeta grumpily.

"Because I think we should all just merge our methods together, like we had planned to do yesterday. Except this time add Jason in on it."

"Can he even go Super Saiya-jin?" asked #17.

"No, at least not yet he can." Goku admitted.

But #17 interrupted him, "Forget it, he'll probably do so soon enough."

"What! Why?" asked Alex.

"Remember when I told you at the hotel in Japan "you never know"?" #17 asked.

"Wait! Of course, you're an android! You can probably see Saiya-jin DNA!" Alex realized, feeling a bit stupid.

"I'm a CYBORG, not an android, and yes, I can see your DNA structures somewhat. I see Saiya-jin DNA in you, Vernon, and even Jason." #17 replied.

"Wait, you knew Vernon was Saiya-jin and you never told us before!" Piccolo growled at him.

"I wanted you to find out yourself." #17 smirked back2.

Piccolo grumbled. "Whatever. Look, at least we know Jason is Saiya-jin now. Now I think we need him to transform to Super Saiya-jin."

"I'm sure you and the cyborg can handle that part, much like you did with Vernon. Kakarott, you and I on the other hand, need to take care of what we were intending to do from the start." Vegeta replied.

Goku thought for a moment, and suddenly realized, "Yeah, we don't know too well about this city. We need to go around and get a feel for this place. Piccolo, #17, can you two handle these three while we're out?" asked Goku, referring to Alex, Jason and Vernon.

"Feh. Fine, but you two owe us." Piccolo replied.

"Sure thing." Goku replied, as he and Vegeta rose up into the air, and flew off to the north.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 2:11pm; Canton, Ohio)

As for Teresa, Dan and Radditz, they had also recently flown off to find a ground for training. They traveled a little to the east, near a large patch of wheat fields along a crossroads. He figured some landmass could suffer a little for teaching Teresa how to use ki. After they brought her to the field.

Dan went to sit down, when Radditz replied, "Wait. You're gonna need to do some of this too."

"Why? I've been through all of this." Dan replied, curious to Radditz's command.

"Not the Ki Sensing and Masking. You guys all ran off after you learned how to fly. You missed a few things." Radditz explained.

Dan sweatdropped, "Shit, sorry about that. I guess I was really trying to beat Piccolo so bad I forgot."

"What? What're you talking about?" Radditz asked.

"Piccolo and I made a bet back in Japan. Basically it was that if we humans could surpass a 45,000 powerlevel in 3 months that Piccolo would teach me and Dusty how to do his Makankosoppo attack." Dan replied.

Radditz smirked, pulling our his scouter, and putting it over his ear, "I guess I should scan you both, and me too." he hit the button on the scouter and pointed it over Dan first.

"Hmmm... powerlevel is 14,948." he then pointed it at Teresa, "Hers is 13.4, much higher starting off than you and all of your friends actually." he then took off the scouter and tossed it to Teresa, who caught it and looked at it funny, then put it on her ear.

"How do I scan you?" she asked.

"The button on the side." Radditz replied.

Teresa hit the button and the scouter looked over, and she saw a climbing number, which them stopped at around 63,119, "Yours is 63,119." she said.

Radditz laughed loudly, "Damn! Dodoria would struggle to keep up with me now, and that's only a little over a week of training!" He then thought to himself, a little jealous of Vernon and Alex, who he knew now were Super Saiya-jins. Even Clint appeared to have transformed similar.

He then realized, "No, it's not enough." he said, making Dan look at him.

"What you mean?"

"I need to ascend! Two weak brats managed to attain Super Saiya-jin before I did!" Radditz scowled.

"Alex and Vernon..." Dan realized.

"Yes. I need to become a Super Saiya-jin soon! Before I get surpassed by brats who only had double-digit powerlevels a week ago!" Teresa tossed the scouter back to the tall saiya-jin, who put it in his pocket. He then looked to her, "Alright, let's get this over with. It's now or never."

Radditz started off by explaining the full concept of ki energy. Teresa had taken to this in earnest, as Radditz had explained it was the explanation for their ability to fly(sans Nina) and shoot energy. Also for sensing others' energies. He then told Teresa to sit down and close her eyes to concentrate, telling her to feel deep down into her soul to bring forth the cauldron of ki. It wasn't easy for her, not having a big knack for the supernatural, and it took her about an hour to finally get it right.

After that, Radditz had her try as long as possible to hold onto it, until she could hold it all the time. Soon, she had gotten the hang of that, and Radditz explained that flight consisted of using your ki as a cushion, or to push you around in the air. Teresa slowly began to learn how to expel her ki properly, and was now flying around like a bird, the wind whipping in her hair. She had actually began to realize this had been worth it, especially if she could use it for something good. Radditz then had her land, and commanded Dan over alongside her.

He now began to explain to them what Goku had told him before about sensing ki. Dan was picking it up a lot faster due to his ki experience, but Teresa was having problems scanning out for lesser kis, and could only for a while sense Dan or Radditz's ki. After some encouragement from Dan and some explanation, she finally got the hang of it. Radditz then began to explain to the two of them how to mask and hide their ki from others, and demonstrated it in front of Dan and Teresa to give them a mental aid. Oddly enough, Teresa got this down almost immediately, while Dan had taken another 10 minutes to figure it out. After it was over,

Radditz gave both congratulations. "There, now you know the basics, Teresa, and Dan you now know too. Feeling dumb for running off now?" he asked jokingly.

Dan grumbled and flipped Radditz the bird, causing him to chuckle, "Oh pipe down! You couldn't beat me yet. I wouldn't prompt me into battle." he taunted, "I guess it's time to get Teresa caught up. Dan, you go and do some warm-ups, or something." Radditz replied, and Dan flew off further in the field, beginning to do a kata involving using the zanzoken and firing small ki blasts.

Meanwhile, Radditz had given Teresa a similar type of weighted armor, gloves and shoes as the kind that he had given Devin on their first day of training. Although it had fit her decent, it wasn't a female-style armor, making it look odd on her. Radditz had basically made her do the same things she had made Devin do, including running laps with the armor on, as well as making her pull boulders and large rocks out of other parts of the ground on the other side of a road. Another thing he had made her do that he didn't make Devin do was dig up trenches in the dirt with her bare hands, a training method he had been told to by Goku to try out. He also made her dig the ground with both the rock and the armor on at the same time.

At the end of the session, she was sweaty and exhausted, but Radditz pressured her to keep going, and to try to shoot some ki from her hands. He demonstrated to her by firing a minor blast at the ground close to where she had been digging, putting a minor crater in the soil. Teresa had tried several times, but she was having a hard time even getting the energy out to shoot a single blast, until she finally managed to control her exhaustion enough to finally concentrate enough ki together to fire off a small blast that only darkened the soil. She tried a second time, but she feel to her knees, in total exhaustion.

Dan gasped at this and ran over to her, "Are you okay?"

Radditz grumbled to himself, "I should've known. She wasn't ready for it yet. I tried to go too fast. Damn these Al-queda bastards for making me so mad!" he walked over, and gathered Teresa's near-unconscious form in his arms.

"Let's bring her back to Goku. I think a sensu will help her heal up faster." Dan suggested.

"Well, probably. But we can't expect they have an unlimited amount Dan. There's gotta be a limit to how many beans we can use." Radditz said, until he suddenly felt a mental smack upside his head.

_Wait a minute! I am such an idiot! DUH! STUPID STUPID STUPID!_ He thought, and quickly set Teresa back down.

"Hey, what're you doing!" Dan demanded at this.

"Dan, I need to ask a favor from you." Radditz replied.

"W.. what?" Dan replied.

"I want you to attack me a few times. Enough to put me in bad enough-looking shape that they'll give me a bean too. I know Kakarott and Vegeta don't fully trust me yet. I don't think they'll just give me a second bean without a serious enough reason." Radditz replied.

"Are you crazy! I can barely hurt you at all!" Dan grumbled.

"Look, I'll lower my powerlevel significantly or something like that! Look, I don't want to totally spoil my surprise. It might not even work, and if it doesn't, there's no point in getting your hopes up about it." Radditz explained.

Dan quickly weighed the decision in his head, "Fine, but I want you to fight back. I don't feel right about attacking someone who doesn't fight back."

"Fine, let me lower my powerlevel to 16,000. You'll last longer when I fight back. At worst, at least one of us will require a sensu bean in some way." Radditz replied, lowering his powerlevel to about 25 of his current amount, and then shedding his armor and his Saiya-jin utility belt, not wanting the armor to crack up and/or get destroyed, and the same with his scouter and belt. The two crouched down into a ready stance and jumped at each other.

Dan and Radditz began a punch trading fest, with a flurry of blows, most being blocked by both fighters, although once in a while, Radditz would connect with Dan, and visa versa. Dan soon broke off and darted to the side, and teleported left, and aimed his Saturday Crush, and fired it at Radditz from his backside. Radditz, in a real fight, would've dodge to the side, but knew he needed to look convincing to Goku and Vegeta and let the blast hit him in the arm, hitting with the force of a hammer. Not really too painful, but it had left a mark on his damaged arm.

Radditz decided to retaliate with his Double Sunday, a double-armed blast which was shot at Dan quickly, and followed him semi-seeking. Dan dodged aside quickly, although the Double Sunday made a sudden turn and smashed into his side, with a similar force to Dan's own Saturday Crush, and knocked him to the side. The damage wasn't too great either, but it would help make him look convincing. Radditz suddenly appeared in front of Dan and swung his leg and kicked him across the dirt, causing his to skid back, until Dan flipped back up and shot a minor Kamehameha which smacked Radditz's right in the face, knocking him back about 2 to 3 feet. His face was slightly bloodied, and it felt good to actually get hit a little, knowing healing from it would make him a little stronger later on.

Dan suddenly jumped back, and growled, and Radditz was looking at him with a strange expression on his face, as Dan began to change a strange look wave motion of energy into his arms. And then he looked down at Radditz, and cupped his hands out in the front.

"What the hell!" Radditz shouted, as Dan screamed, "FINAL FLASH!" and shot Vegeta's special trademark ki blast right at Radditz.

"That's one of Vegeta's attacks! Dammit!" he growled, realizing he did not want to get hit completely by the wave, lest it damage him a little TOO much. He dodged upwards, but he underestimated the speed of the Final Flash as it smashed right into his lower legs, causing Radditz to start spinning vertically in mid-air as he flew up. His legs were also badly hit by the shot, although not totally taken out. Radditz righted himself one more time, just in time for Dan to appear behind him and axehandled him over the head. Radditz quickly powered back up to 50 and managed to correct his landing and managed to land safely, and then zanzokening behind Dan with a final kick to his back that sent Dan plowing forward into the air, and causing his to slowly fall to the ground across the road.

Luckily, Dan had not taken as much damaged as he had expected, and was also able to correct himself before hitting the ground. He then looked to Radditz, realizing it was probably time to stop.

Radditz grumbled, "Dammit! How'd you learn Vegeta's Final Flash!"

"I guess it came to me after watching the show a few times, and all of this anger at the terrorist and what they did." Dan explained, and then looked down, "And also I guess I was a bit pissed at you. I'm sorry, it's just I don't see why you couldn't have just taken Teresa back before we did this."

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Radditz asked, "After she almost lost consciousness."

"Yes. She had almost killed me because she had no choice. I know I should be a bit mad at her, but I can't be. I feel for her. I don't know why." Dan replied.

"Well that's fair enough. I guess I got a little overboard. I guess we need to go back to Kakarott and Vegeta now." Radditz replied, and cradled Teresa in his arms again, and he and Dan quickly flew off towards Alex's house, not really thinking to sense out for the two people they were looking for.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 2:45pm; Canton, Ohio)

When they finally got back, they found not Goku or Vegeta, but Piccolo and #17 training Vernon, Alex and Jason. In fact, the three others had just arrived in time to witness something important. They looked on and realized that Piccolo, #17, Vernon, and even Alex, although grumbling a little, looked to be on the sidelines, watching Jason standing in the middle of the yard, looking down at the ground, and Radditz could swear he felt a great anger welling up in Jason.

Jason was thinking over the events of earlier that day: the planes that hit the World Trade Center.

The plane that hit the Pentagon.

The plane in Pennsylvania.

The collapse of the outer east walls of the Pentagon.

The collapse of the North and South Towers, and then, the attack on Dan and also Teresa's families.

Then finally, the bomb that almost wiped out several counties, and how CLINT of all people had managed to save them by getting the bomb out of the atmosphere.

Jason's growls of anger and the tears in his eyes overwhelmed him, and he let out a terrifying scream that Dan realized would dwarf any volume Dusty had ever used to this point, "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Jason's hair began to stand up and flicker gold, as his energy flared out around him, causing a shockwave that almost flung a nearby car on its' side, and then his eyes faded out, and reappeared turquoise and his hair finally became a solid gold.

Jason gasped for air a few times, still managing to hold his first Super Saiya-jin transformation. However, it was not over just yet. Jason had not fully let his rage out, and then screamed again, his arm, chest and leg muscles bulking up immensely.

#17 growled, "Dammit! What the hell's he doing!" By the time Jason had finally finished screaming, his muscle mass had made him appear a full 9 inches taller, and he looked to be nearly Piccolo's height. He slowly let up on his anger, and his muscle mass slowly shrunk down a little, to a point he only looked 6 inches taller.

"Dammit! Now I understand! He's doing what Vegeta and Mirai Trunks original did when Cell attained his Perfect state!" Piccolo replied, "Wait a minute! Shit! He almost destroyed himself in his own rage! When he peaked, he went well beyond what Trunks did!3"

"Wait! You mean the so called 'Super Saiya-jin, 3rd grade'!" Vernon asked, having recognized this form.

"What's all that mean?" Alex asked, a little forgetful to what they were blabbing about.

"Alex, Jason basically just went similar to Super Saiya-jin 2, except not quite as strong, and nowhere near as fast. In fact, his speed is probably heavily reduced." Piccolo explained.

Jason breathed heavily a little more, and his muscle mass shrunk down another 3 inches, now only in normal 'USSJ', "Yeah Alex, you might as well say I was an '3rd class Ultra Super-Saiyan, one level beyond Future Trunks." Jason explained, now letting out the last of his blinding rage, reverting to a normal SSJ level.

"Woah! Jason might prove to actually be a serious rival to us just yet." Vernon thought out loud, actually a little interested in this prospect.

"Hah! He's slower in that form though! I bet I could've taken him, or at least have outlasted him!" Alex boasted a little, actually feeling relieved he never went into any of those outdated Super Saiya-jin classes. He was already hard of speed, and USSJ levels would only making it significantly harder to train.

"Ahem. Not to interrupt your celebration," Radditz cut in, getting their attention, and making Jason suddenly almost lose hold of SSJ, "But where's Kakarott and Vegeta. I'm afraid all three of us need some of those beans again."

Piccolo grumbled, and reached into the cloth material on his cape-like plate, and pulled out a similar pouch to the one Goku was holding, "Goku and Vegeta are running around, scanning the city to learn more about it. They left #17 and I here to train these guys. But you're lucky. I happen to also have a few left over Sensus. Although the girl only looks worn out. Here's two beans."

Piccolo threw them over to Dan and Radditz, "I don't have as many left over as Goku and Vegeta do, and besides, a half bean will work fine on her. Have her split it up and use each half in different sessions if you need. Don't waste it Radditz."

"Thanks, green one." Radditz replied. He broke one of the beans in half and gave it to Teresa, causing her to get to her senses, but she was still a bit worn from the training session.

"Thanks. Sorry I pooped out on you earlier." she apologized to them.

"Don't sweat it. It's not the easiest thing to get around your first few days." Dan explained, and Radditz just chuckled. The three of them lifted up and began to fly off into the air.

"We'll see you all later. Tell Kakarott and Vegeta to be vigilant if I don't see him for a while!" Radditz called down to them.

Piccolo harrumphed at him, but acknowledged this, as the trio flew off, now trying to find Teresa's home so they could locate her quickly.

#17 hid a smirk under his calm face, _Radditz, he didn't seem all that banged up, and Dan doesn't look quite so bad either. Why did they want three beans?_ He then widened his eyes, _Wait a second! I think I get it now! Yes... something Piccolo and his gang probably should've thought about long back. But, I got the feeling they too probably tried it and failed. I should confront him about it later._ #17 then turned back to his comrades, and prepared to put the 3 younger saiya-jin through more lessons...

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 6:13pm; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, Goku and Vegeta had finished scanning over northern Canton. They had found various places of interest, even some that Alex and his gang had mentioned to them before. They had even flown north enough to find the Akron-Canton Airport, where the plane from Los Angeles heading home had dropped them off. Flying a little back south, they had reentered the Belden Village area. They realized they were hungry now, not having really got the chance to eat due to the events of the day. After some scouring of the area, and picking up a little food from the nearby Burger King, and then heading back south to head back to more familiar territory.

However Vegeta's mind was in a daze, _This is insane! Jason... his powerlevel skyrocketed, at least compared to Alex and Vernon. It had to have been almost quadruple of Alex's powerlevel as a Super Saiya-jin a couple of days ago! Dammit! This is getting overwhelming. These young brats are determined as hell to get strong enough to avenge the people who died today. Dammit! I wish I knew were to find these bastard terrorists. Their terror is nothing to what I'll show them when I get my hands around their necks!_ Vegeta thought in bitter rage.

Although he knew the attacks were little damage-wise compared to even some of the lesser damage he did when sparring with Goku, he knew the terrorists had not deserved to control fate so easily, and definitely not to kill so many. _Those fucking shitheads! Al-queda! Enjoy your petty victory today, for when we find you, you'll wish you never even thought of all of this!_ he then sighed to himself, "Kakarott, let find us a bar or something. I need a drink. BADLY."

Goku looked to Vegeta, a bit worried, but he knew from Bulma's own experiences that Vegeta was a different person when he managed to get drunk, as opposed to his normally sub-grumpy personality. Although it was a rarity, he had the feeling from the anger radiating off his friend's body that Vegeta might very well decide to drink himself stupid.

After a few more minutes, they had found a bar southwest of Clint's home area of Fohl Village along a road called Sherman Church Avenue. The place was known as the Red Dog Saloon. As the two entered. Vegeta looked around. A decent number of people were in the bar, and many of them had also apparently drank themselves to drunkenness, and anyone else had an air of depression around them, some also looked more obvious than others.

_Probably feeling the same way about today._ Goku noted, as Vegeta immediately walked up to the counter, and pulled out some money.

"5 shots of Vodka, on the rocks!" he grumbled.

The bartender realized that he was probably here for the same reason as many of the others, and said, "No, don't worry about money today. The news is too depressing. Today has been a tragedy."

"I know that! Get me my vodka, now!" Vegeta growled, not really knowing how long he could stay patient. However that had gotten another person's attention.

"Vegeta?" Nina's voice had called from the back of the saloon. Goku looked over towards her voice, and saw the winged-girl sitting alone at a table, with a medium glass of liquor in front of her.

"Nina, what're you doing here?" he asked.

"Drinking the night away, what does it look like?" Nina growled back, just a bit annoyed at his question, and then looked to Vegeta, who had already shot all of the five glasses of vodka he had ordered, "Woah, Vegeta can definitely pack it. Vodka usually gets someone drunk in two or three shots." Nina was amazed.

"Bartender, gimme more!" he said, slapping his hand on the table as to indicate his point.

"Is he trying to get drunk!" Nina was awestruck.

"Trust me, Vegeta's a totally different person when he's drunk.4" Goku replied, although a bit worried from his friend's reputation, as the bar tender put down five more shots. Vegeta quickly gulped down all five shots of vodka in less than 4 seconds, and he hiccupped slightly, but he was still a little bit conscious.

"Another 5 on the rocks!" he shouted, although his voice seemed, a little subdued this time, Nina noted, watching in amazement as Vegeta gulped down another 5 shots of vodka. After doing this, she and Goku watched Vegeta suddenly go still, although he was still breathing. Nina was worried all that vodka had completely shut down his brain, but Goku merely looked on blankly. Vegeta suddenly gave a chuckle, and then another chuckle. After 5 more seconds, he began to actually burst out in a hearty and continuous laugh, as the red took over his cheeks completely. Vegeta even hiccupped once.

"Here he comes." Goku said, apparently having seen this once before for himself.

"Bartender! Heeey baarrtender! Get myy friends Goku and Nina here 5 shots, and geeett me another 5 shoots..." he droned on, in a rarely happy sounding voice which chilled Nina a little bit, having known Vegeta to always be semi-grumpy. Goku and Nina looked at him.

"Vegeta, you sure about this?" asked Goku. The last time this happened, Vegeta had challenged Goku to a drink off. However, as if he were the seventh wonder of the world, Goku had taken over 50 shots of Vodka, and although he had to go to the bathroom a lot that night, had barely even felt the slightest bit frazzled, which had angered Vegeta greatly the next morning when he got over the resulting hangover. It was almost as if Goku's body were so powerful that alcohol had no effect on him at all5.

Vegeta however at the time was too wasted to care, "Come on Goooku. I, Vegeeta, the Prince of all Saiyaaa-jins, hic, challenge you two to a drink off!" Vegeta chuckled. Apparently he only called Goku by his Earth name when he was drunk or not conscious of what he was doing. Goku also noticed he was getting stares at him and Vegeta by some of the other people.

Nina shrugged a little. "I guess I can take a shot or two, but I'm not competing in your little contest."

"Verrry well! Barteeender, get Goku here 15 shots of vooddka to start him off." Vegeta slurred. The bartender perked up, realizing that despite the horror of the day, Goku and Vegeta's drink off would be good entertainment to get everyone else's minds off the problems of the day, at least for a little while.

Goku sat down, knowing that he was probably going to outdrink Vegeta again. He didn't mind challenges with his friend/rival, but he didn't like the idea of having to go to the bathroom several times in less than 3 hours because of these little contests. This had to be the third time he had seen Vegeta drunk. He knew Yamcha and Vegeta had once challenged each other at one point, and Vegeta had easily won out, although getting drunk in the process. Soon, he had received his 15 shots of Vodka. He quickly drank all 15 of them down, in less time than Nina had even cared to try to drink one of the two she had ordered.

Vegeta chuckled, "Goooood... get us each anooother fifteeen shots!" Vegeta bellowed in a drunken glee. The bartended chuckled slightly, and the other occupants had scooted in closer, as the bartender had soon rigged up all 30 shot glasses and split them between the competing Saiya-jin. Both clocked in at around 40 seconds to drink all fifteen glasses each. As he predicted, Goku wasn't even noticing any effects of the vodka yet, and Vegeta had almost turned fully red in the face, although he had not appeared to grew too much more drunk than he already was.

Nina on the other hand had finished the first shot of hers, and was contemplating on drinking the last. She decided for the sake of the night to do so just this once, maybe it would help her in the off-chance she and Katt got into a drink off someday.

Vegeta laughed loudly, "Hhaahhaahhaahh! Yoooooou reaaaady fooor moooore... Goookuuu?" Vegeta slurred, "Gooood... 20 mooore shooots!"

_Holy damn!_ Nina said to herself, still miraculously able to keep from totally losing herself to the vodka, but more at Vegeta's declaration.

The bartender filled up 40 more glasses, but was thinking to himself _Holy shit! These two have taken in over 50 shots total! I should've charged them after all!_

Goku had actually managed to pick up this thought, "Sorry about that. Here." he pulled out around 300 dollars and gave it to the bartender. The bartender wordlessly took the money, and gladly put the 40 glasses down for Goku and Vegeta to drink from. However as the two began to gulp it down, Vegeta suddenly stopped on his 16th of his 20 glasses, and he grew wobbly and fell over on his butt, causing some of the people in the bar to laugh their heads off.

Nina looked at him in amazement, "That was 46 glasses of vodka, and only now he falls on his ass?" Vegeta however, calmly picked himself up, and gulped down the other four, equaling to 50 shots so far.

Goku looked at him in amazement having finished now his 50th shot of vodka as well, still not feeling any real effects, "Vegeta, please. Enough of this! I know you need to piss this night off, but think of the hangover you're gonna get!"

Vegeta laughed back, "Aaaaawwww come oon... I caaaan beat yooouu stilll! 25 more glaaaasses eaach!"

Goku looked at the bewildered bartender, and pulled out another 400 dollars, and gave it to him, "I'm very sorry about this. This is actually farther than he got last time."

The bartender looked at both of them with his eyes wide, "You're not drunk yet! How the hell is that possible!" he asked.

"I don't know myself. The last time we both did this, I remained completely sober even after 50 drinks. He gave up after 43 drinks though. Looks like he's really out to drink this off though." Goku sheepishly replied.

"Fine, but this is the last time, you hear me! I don't want to be held responsible for you two and your stupidity!" the bartender grumbled, pouring 50 more glasses, the last 50.

Nina nodded, "Yeah really. I understand competitive flair, but you Saiya-jin are truly competitive." she growled at them, as the final 50 drinks had been placed on the table.

Vegeta and Goku quickly grabbed them one by one and gulped down the vodka. Surprisingly, Vegeta had lasted until his final glass, where he suddenly went slack for a moment. Nina had noticed the look in his eyes. It almost looked like he had fallen unconscious. Suddenly, Vegeta's head fell down and slammed into the table with a smash, leaving a crack on the table. Goku on the other hand had finished up his 75th and final drink.

"Wow... he actually got 74 shots down this time. I just hope I don't feel too much from this. EEP! I'll be right back!" Goku suddenly realized he had to go to be bathroom BADLY, and ran off at near light-speed to the nearly bathroom.

Nina looked over at Vegeta, who was now snoring loudly on the table, his eyes closed, and a little trail of drool coming out of his mouth, "Christ. I should be glad Alex and Vernon don't do this. Good god... Vegeta's gonna probably be a laughing stock here, or some kind of local hero. Wait no, Goku'll probably get that title for **NOT GETTING DRUNK EVEN AFTER 75 SHOTS OF VODKA!**" she then finished in a loud, almost Dusty-level volume back towards the bathroom where she knew Goku was.

Goku called out, "Hey, it's not my idea of fun either!" from behind the wall.

(September 11, 2001 A.D.; 8:57pm; Canton, Ohio)

After Goku had managed to get as much out of him as possible, he realized Vegeta was in a big jam. He would have to carry the prince back home, and break the news to him that he had lost to Goku by one glass. Although Goku probably could've gone farther than that if Vegeta had managed to make another order, that wasn't the issue. Also, Nina was a little frazzled from her liquor and 2 shots of vodka, and was having some trouble flying around alongside Goku.

"Nina, why don't you stay at our place for a little and sober up. I don't want you crashing and getting killed. It's just as bad to fly drunk as to drive drunk." Goku suggested to her.

Nina rubbed her head, having a bit of a headache, "I know. Radditz can get along fine without me there. Damn... Paula's gonna probably be pissed at me for this. I promised her I was going to start training with her tomorrow." she said.

"Really? Well good luck to you two. Tell Paula to train hard. I remember she was very useful as a fighter when we were younger." Goku stated.

"Goku, do me a favor... don't tell anyone else about our training for a while. We don't want the others to bother us too much for now. We need to think over this training a little bit." she replied.

"Um, alright. Just don't get yourselves killed." Goku replied, as they soon landed in Alex's neck of the woods.

Noticing no one was outside at the moment, the three of them snuck into Goku and Vegeta's rented house. Once inside, they were greeted to an annoyed-looking Piccolo, looking at the two saiya-jins almost like a father-figure catching their son or daughter sneaking in late.

"And just where in the blue hell where you two!" asked Piccolo with a low anger.

"Sorry Piccolo. We were looking around, and Vegeta suddenly ask me to find a bar, so we came upon a place south of here, and well..."

"NOT AGAIN." Piccolo growled, realizing that Vegeta was slung over Goku's shoulder because he was drunk, "Wait. Why's Nina with you?"

"I was there before they were. I was just getting a little liquor to drink all of the events of today off, when I heard Vegeta ordering vodka." Nina replied.

"How much did those idiots drink this time!" Piccolo asked her.

"About 75 shots each. Vegeta passed out on his 74th or 75th glass. Goku took all the shots down like it was nothing." Nina replied.

"Dammit! Again! Goku, how the hell can you withstand all that alcohol!" Piccolo asked, apparently he had been familiar with the two Saiya-jins' last drink-off.

Goku scratched his head, and then he jumped up, "EEP! NOT AGAIN!" he said, and threw Vegeta to Piccolo quickly as he dashed up the stairs to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him.

"Dammit! I hate it when those two do this!" Piccolo said, and threw Vegeta to Nina, who barely caught him, "At least you had the smarts to not join them." Piccolo said to her, "By the way, Jason managed to become a Super Saiya-jin as well today. I thought you might like to know."

"Did he go feral like Vernon?" Nina asked.

"Not exactly, but I know he was much more angry when he did transform, because he hit Super Saiya-jin, 4th grade today." Piccolo explained.

"4th grade? Wait... he bulked up his body immensely, didn't he?" Nina said, now remembering a few times her friends spoke of Mirai Trunks and his battle against Perfect Cell.

"Yes. I dare say he was stronger than what he'd probably be as a normal Super Saiya-jin 2 at the time, but his speed would've been next to nothing. I'm surprised his body didn't fail on him." Piccolo replied.

Nina went over and walked upstairs, and opened the door to Vegeta's room, which she recognized due to some of the stuff he had up on the wall, mostly DBZ merchandise of himself, a few of Bulma as well. She placed Vegeta in the bed, and covered him with the sheets.

"Goku, Vegeta's in his bed now! You might want to use a sensu on him when he wakes up!" she suggested.

"Alright then." Goku called back. As she walked down the stairs.

Piccolo looked at her, "Speaking of sensu beans, Radditz got a little hammered up today. He and Dan must've been sparring after they taught that Teresa girl how to use her ki. She's a lot stronger than she started off, but I don't have Radditz's scouter anymore. He'd be the only one to give an exact number. He's probably back at your place now though." Piccolo mentioned.

Nina looked back to him, "Alright, I'll see if I can't find out more from him later, but I need to sleep this night off." 

"Later." Piccolo said, and he watched as Nina flew off, heading northeast, in the direction of her home, as he heard Goku groan from the bathroom upstairs. 

"Son6, I'll talk to you later tomorrow! You owe me and #17 some off time, remember!" Piccolo said. 

"I know, I know!" Goku said, a bit impatiently, "Talk tomorrow, okay?" 

"Later Goku." Piccolo said, taking to the air after leaving Goku's house, and flying off into the distance, heading back to #17 and Vernon at Vernon's house...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1** Remember, in due terms of DB's own time it is only 2 or 3 months after the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, so technically by Misfits' standards, GT would not have happened for another 10 years. However, more than likely, if anything from GT other than SSJ4 ever makes it into Misfits, it will be vastly different from the original version of GT. Example: There are NO Black Star Dragonballs, and the Earth Dragonballs do not use negative energy in the same purpose as the way Misfits will do it. You'll begin to understand the Misfits method of dispersing negative energy from Dragonballs soon enough. Also, due to all of this, Goku and Vegeta are not even aware of Super Saiya-jin 4, although Alex and his gang are due to the show. The Z-gang has not yet gotten any real glimpse of GT, although it will only be a matter of time.

**2** Remember, #17 has the tendency to be very mischievous, even around his fellow Z-Warriors. Now you understand why he said what he said to Alex at the hotel in Tokyo. :P

**3** What Piccolo means is that Jason went one 'level' beyond what Mirai Trunks did versus Cell, not that his powerlevel surpassed Trunks at that time. If you don't totally understand what the hell just happened, you can say Jason went "USSJ3", or "Super Saiya-jin 4th Grade". Basically, it's along the lines what Vegeta and Trunks used against Cell in 2nd and perfect forms, but there ended up being too many weaknesses, especially when Trunks went to "USSJ2" or "Super Saiya-jin 3rd Grade", the great bulking in muscle causing Trunks to slow down too much. :P

**4** The idea to have Vegeta change his personality when wasted comes from another fanfiction I read on Also, we need some humor in the midst of all this serious crap, dammit:P

**5** This idea with Goku being 'immune' to alcohol comes from a fanart I have, it has Goku, Radditz and Bardock in a drink-off, and Goku has packed down several glasses of alcohol and isn't yet affected. :D

**6** **'Son'** Goku's surname, for the dubbies who don't know. In the Japanese version, Piccolo tends to call Goku by this in serious situations.


	9. Part 8: Piccolo's New Hobby

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa © Me  
-----------------------------

**Part 8: Piccolo's New Hobby**

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 6:03am; Canton, Ohio)

Early the next morning, Vegeta finally managed to wake up from his ordeal the other night. When he did, he realized his head felt like it was in a vice, and he also still had vodka on his breath.

He growled, "Dammit. I must've gotten drunk again! Why did I have to be so stupid!" he thought to himself, and he slowly began to remember the events of his drink off with Goku, "I challenged that baka to another drinking contest, didn't I?" he then realized that Nina had probably also seen all the events that commenced.

Also, he looked painfully to his dresser, and he saw that he had a sensu bean lying on the table. Probably Goku's way of telling him there was no time to let the hangover wear off on its' own, which Vegeta couldn't help but agree with. He knew that he and Goku had to train Vernon, Jason and Alex today, because Piccolo and #17 had already made it clear to the elder two saiya-jin that they were going to run around and explore Canton today. He took the sensu off the table and ate it, and quickly recovered his senses. He felt a bit stronger as well.

He then began to wonder, "I wonder if Kakarott's in the same shape as me? Probably not. Last time we did that, he wasn't even the slightest affected after 50 shots."

He left his room, and sighed, and walked up to the bathroom door, and went in, soon cleaning up and taking a short shower. He realized the clock had read around 6:10am.

"Damn! I slept in way too much!" he growled, and quickly dashed down the stairs and left the house, jumping up and landing behind the house, where he found Goku, Piccolo, Mr. Buu and #17 were gathered up.

Alex, and Vernon and Jason were also in the back yard. All three of them were currently trying their damndest to keep hold on their SSJ levels as long as they could at once, knowing that like he and Goku long back, it was difficult to handle holding the transformation for the first few days or so.

Piccolo and #17 immediately noticed Vegeta's arrival, pointing it out to Goku as well.

Vegeta moved over to them, as Piccolo smirked, "Well, it looks like the drunken fool finally woke up."

"What the hell? How did you find out, Namek!" Vegeta growled, and then looked to Kakarott, "You moron! You told him didn't you? You idiots better not have told THEM." he sternly growled, referring to Alex, Vernon and Jason as "THEM".

"Calm down Vegeta, they don't know anything at all, although Nina does know, and I can't guarantee she won't say something to them." Piccolo replied.

"She'd better not. I hate it when that happens to me. By the way, who won last night?" Vegeta asked.

"Well, you passed out before you could drink your final glass, so I won by a glass." Goku said to him in a truthful manner.

"Dammit." Vegeta grumbled softly, "Probably made a fool of myself too."

"Anyways, it's about time you woke up." #17 announced, "We're only still here because we feel you needed to be up before we left. Buu's not the best substitute for you, as you know well."

"What the hell is he doing here anyways?" asked Vegeta.

"He wants to train. I guess since he lives close to here, and since Devin's group isn't really too strong yet, he came here to train with me and you." Goku explained.

"Fine, I could use a good spar for once! Maybe it'll get me over all the shit going on the last couple of days." Vegeta mused.

"Well, since you three are all awake and acquainted again, it's time #17 and I got to our task of looking around this strange place. Later." Piccolo replied, as he and #17 immediately floated upwards, and took off towards the northwest, to begin their exploration of Canton and southern Akron.

After that, Goku and Vegeta called Mr. Buu over and talked to him about a spar session of their own. Buu was more than happy to accept, and he told them of a place he wanted to go to try some things out. They called over to Alex, Jason and Vernon.

"Do you three want to watch us spar for once?" Goku asked them. The three younger Misfits looked to them.

"Well, I want to train this hold on SSJ." Alex replied, "Why don't you guys just go on without us?"

"Because you're still getting some lessons today. Besides, we're not going to be able to all fight here, because there's way too much risk to the property than just a stray crater or two." Vegeta explained.

Vernon shrugged, "If we keep trying to hold SSJ, we'll come along anyways. It's not often we can see you two spar with each other in person."

"It's me and Vegeta vs. Buu, not each other." Goku corrected.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't kill us." Jason said, although he looked to be trying hard to hold his SSJ, without going to 2nd grade, as the slight bulking in his muscle mass was showing.

"Jason, you've got to focus your energy more efficiently. There's a reason I and my future son had troubles with the higher grades in the first place. We weren't directing our anger properly. You're also relying too much on being mad to keep the level. You must learn to reduce the requirement of anger for a transformation." Vegeta explained sternly as he watched Jason.

Jason growled, trying to do just that, but when he did, his hair flicked back to brown for a moment, and then to gold, and back a couple of times, until Jason growled to keep at SSJ, "Easier said than done, Vegeta!" he growled angrily.

"I know it's annoying. Trust me I hated myself when I found out just how outmatched those levels are." Vegeta tried to calm him down. After a few more words exchanged, the seven Misfits picked up to the air and flew off and followed Mr. Buu to the place he had picked out.

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 6:28am; Canton, Ohio)

The first full day of Devin, Dusty, Clint, Heero, Virgil, Dwayne and Steve's new training at Devin's vacant lot would start off a bit on the slow side. Part of the reason was because Virgil desperately needed to be taught the basics of Ki, much as all the others had in the past. Devin decided he would at least be nice enough to give Virgil the pointers for him, while the other five would do their own training for a while. He had Virgil move over to a more open section of the lot and had him sit down and attempt to meditate. Devin found Virgil to be having a problem getting into the right position, but Virgil soon was ready.

Devin explained to Virgil that ki was the cauldron of the soul, and all the same jazz that Radditz had told Teresa the day before. Virgil took roughly 35 minutes to get it down right, and to finally grasp his ki completely. It took him another 40 minutes or so for him to get a firm enough hold to keep his ki at the surface.

Devin sighed at the wasted time, "Oh well, at least he finally got the hang it. I wonder just how long it'll take dipshit to learn how to fly." he said to himself, as he called Virgil over to start explaining how to fly. After hearing it, Virgil had a good idea of what to do, and tried to go and expel some ki downwards, although it found it hard.

However instead of expelling ki... **BBBZZT!** he had farted instead. Devin jumped back, having heard this and was cautious of some kind of killer gas coming through, but surprisingly, he didn't smell anything.

"Virgil, you're not trying to take a shit, you 'tard!" Devin growled.

Virgil growled and flipped him the bird for a second, "I'm trying god dammit!"

Devin sighed to himself, "Whatever, just remember, expel your ki downwards... nevermind..." he stopped, noticing Virgil was now lifting into the air, and starting to slowly move himself around up and down, and then started moving around diagonally, and then he had mastered slow movement, and began to speed up his movement.

"Good Virgil, good. Just keep plugging at it, and maybe, just maybe you can actually starting working off that fat!" Devin joked at him.

Virgil growled, "Shut up, you goony 'tard!" but he lost altitude and fell straight to the ground, actually causing a small 1.7 tremor when he landed. Devin floated up to avoid the shaking ground.

"Look, keep practicing. I need to join the others over there. When you get the hang of it, grab some heavy objects and start carrying them around as you fly!" Devin called, wanting to get to his own training.

Meanwhile, Clint had tried once again to power up to his Super Saiya-jin level, but he was finding it hard to understand why he could even do it. He had talked to his parents the other night about what had happened at Canton South. His parents had understood his anger at Al-queda, and they too had their own grief over the events. However according to them, Clint was not adopted, nor was be believed to have any kind of foreign DNA in him that they knew of. He had managed to transform again back at his house, but he then recognized something he had not seen the first time he did it. Instead of a pure-gold color to his hair, he could swear there was a slight twinge of light green to his hair.

He thought over it a little, until Dusty had called him over to do some of their weight training. He soon found himself wearing 650 lbs weighted clothing, lifting around 1,000 lbs in weights that Dwayne and Steve had ordered the night before. There had been a total of 6,400 lbs in weights lying around for the group to use for lifting, and they had a few weighted outfits to use as well. Clint had noticed that Devin had grabbed an extra-large sized weighted shirt and threw it to Virgil, telling him to slip into it for the first true part of his training, which he was going to take a bit from Radditz and how he had been trained himself, by making Virgil run laps around the lot with the clothing on, and then if he could, get Virgil to uproot boulders and larger rocks to carry around on his laps. Clint then went back to his lifting, wondering more on how he was going to master his new powers.

Heero was also training in a similar way to Virgil, except he was wearing a 2nd-level training shirt, unlike Virgil's 1st-level shirt, and he was also running around, holding up Steve on his shoulders as he ran, as Steve himself was lifting small to medium weights, trying to make himself and Heero both stronger at the same time. He also noticed Dwayne had gotten up and sat on Dusty's shoulders, having him do the same thing, except Dusty was in a '3rd-level' training shirt and not a 2nd level. They now noticed Clint attempting to do back flips and front flips while wearing his weighted clothing, but often he would fall over too soon and land on his back or on his stomach, peeling himself up to try again.

"Man, this would be so much easier if we had a gravity chamber or two with us." he said to himself. He wasn't the most impressed with weighted methods anymore after a few days. Weighted clothing wasn't good enough at equal distribution over the body in the most serious training situations. He also knew on Dragonball Z that Goku had used the 10x Earth's gravity to jump from 416 to 8,000 powerlevel in less than 4 months, and then up to 100x in less than 2 months to reach around 100,000 powerlevel. The point was that they needed a technical genius get them some gravity chambers ready eventually, lest their training would probably start to slow a little at a specific point.

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 7:49am; Canton, Ohio)

Piccolo and #17 were flying around the city of Canton, taking note of places of interest, such as potential training locations for large groups, places of social interest(mainly #17's idea, not Piccolo's), and of course, places that could be considered high end targets to people like terrorists, much in the same vein as Al-queda were. Two places of interest were Canton's city hall and another was the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the landmark capital of football in the world, as they would discover it. At #17's request, they had gone to the Hall of Fame to learn more on the sport of football.

This had actually slightly interested the cyborg, and he looked to Piccolo, "This is quite a rough-contact sport, and in ways, it reminds me of a fun training session."

"#17, we're not using it as a training method on the others." Piccolo scowled, not exactly interested in this.

"Maybe not, but you must have some kind of fun hobby." #17 suggested.

Piccolo bared his fangs and smirked, "Sure, I've got a hobby. It's called scaring the shit out of weak humans!" he ended it with a growl.

"Surely you jest." #17 challenged, and then his eyes perked up, "Piccolo, I want to show you something. We just have to find the right place first."

Piccolo sighed, "Feh. Whatever, if you want to, it'll give us more a look at Canton anyways, but I don't think you're going to get me interested in whatever your talking about."

"Aw come on, don't knock it until you've tried it." the cyborg replied in a taunting voice as he lifted up into the air and flew over to a nearby phone booth, and grabbed a phone book, looking through the yellow-pages for a few seconds.

He then closed the book, "I know where we can go now." he said, as he lifted up and flew away. Piccolo grumbled incoherently, and picked up and flew after his fun-loving ally.

After about 5 minutes of flying, #17 suddenly landed down on the ground, in the middle of a busy intersection in the Northeast section of Canton. Piccolo landed nearby.

"So what the hell are we here for anyways?" Piccolo asked. #17 pointed up above him, to a sign that read "Carlson's Motor Lot. Special Sale Today!"

Piccolo growled, "A motor lot?"

"Follow me." #17 simply said and walked inside of the lot ahead of them. Piccolo cautiously followed, as he examined some vehicles, such as cars, trucks, motorcycles and even a few tractors from time to time. #17 walked up to a tall man near the back of the lot, who they soon found out was Leon Carlson, the owner.

"Well there, what can I..." then he saw Piccolo, in a semi grumble mode, and looked a bit surprised, but then talked more, "What I can I do for you?"

#17 replied casually, "I'm looking for a high-end motorcycle or two with good mileage."

Leon looked at them, "Well, I'm sure I can find you something worth your time." he replied as he led them over a little towards the eastern-center of the lot, where he had pointed to a pair of Harley Davidson motorcycles, which #17 looked at as if he were a little child at Christmas.

He had read up on the motorcycles and cars of the merged world, at least what he knew would probably be sold around Canton, so he had already had a good idea that this was right up his alley. Now getting Piccolo to try it... that was a different story.

"Hey Piccolo. I want you to try one of these out!" he called over, as to make sure everyone else around knew he was speaking to the Namekian, which Piccolo found just a wee bit annoying. Piccolo then looked over at the motorcycle with a strange expression one might have when looking at a dead cockroach.

"Are you insane?" he growled.

"Whatsa matter Piccolo? You scared of a little automated bike?" #17 taunted him, hoping to use the advantage of being in public to coax Piccolo into trying it to keep his dignity.

Piccolo growled, realizing this immediately, "You idiot! Vehicles and I do not mix!"

"Oh come on, I know you can drive, considering Goku told me about the time you two took a driving test and got into a race with each other." #17 smirked.

Piccolo's jaw dropped about 3 inches at this statement, "That imbecile! He didn't! For your information, Chichi forced both of us into it! She thought we needed a small taste of normal life when we ended up doing that!" he then tried to explain his actions, but he was hoping that #17 hadn't know of the goofy getup and hat he had to wear that day more than #17 being aware of the driving part itself.

"Oh come on! Goku told me that it wasn't "that bad"." #17 said.

Piccolo grumbled at him, wanting to smash Goku's head into the ground now that he knew the lesser-intelligent Saiya-jin told #17 about their driving test incident. However Piccolo realized that at motorcycle was smaller than a car, and it wasn't like the others would know if he did try it once. Everyone else, even Vegeta, had at one point or another joked about how Piccolo was always dead serious all the time and didn't like to have fun.

"Grrr... FINE! I'll try the stupid motorcycle! But if any one of the others see us, I'm going to give you a good ass-kicking later on!" Piccolo threatened, but giving in to his temptation.

#17 smirked, "I look forward to seeing you try." he said, as Piccolo begrudgingly walked up near the bike.

#17 asked Leon about the price of the motorcycles. He said it was a special sale at $750 dollars for each of them. He pulled out the required money, but Piccolo noticed this.

"#17, exactly where are you getting money?" he asked.

"Oh, you mean you haven't found it yet?" #17 replied, "I'll give you the full details later." he then handed Leon the money, and he boarded his own motorcycle, and Piccolo reluctantly boarded his own cycle.

After being given their ignition keys, #17 and then Piccolo turned on their motorcycles and revved them up for their test drive. Soon, #17 drove his way out of the lot and onto the road. Piccolo grumbled, and accelerated after him, and wondered what exactly #17 was trying to get him to do. The two would drive off and head back westward, heading down streets until they'd make a turn on Tuscarawas Ave. and drove westward down the wider road.

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 7:55am; Canton, Ohio)

Earlier that day, Nina had soon woke up, only to find that Radditz had already left the house, probably to go train Dan and Teresa. She had more or less recovered from the minor hangover from the other night. Wondering just how Vegeta was taking things by now, she figured he was none to happy to lose to Goku apparently for a second time. However she was more concerned with her and Paula's to-be training. She had been given Paula's phone number the other night, and she went over and picked up the phone in her kitchen, and she dialed the number to her friend's line.

After the phone beeped about 2 times, it clicked, "Hello?" Paula's voice replied.

"Paula it's me." Nina spoke.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd call." Paula said, sounding a little bored, yet slightly... distracted at the same time.

"What're you doing over there?" Nina was curious enough to ask.

"Just practicing my 'other' powers for our training session. I'm levitating the phone to my ear right now in fact." Paula replied back.

"Using ki levitation huh?" Nina asked.

"Not ki at all." Paula replied back, having Nina a little curious, "Hey, I'll be over there soon. Don't go far!" she then said.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." Nina said, as she heard Paula hang up the phone on her end. Nina left her kitchen and had walked into her front room, a but crowded, but at least Radditz was using her basement instead of the main part of her home. She had been keeping a few heirlooms from her own times in Canton in others rooms on the ground floor of her house. She was also keeping a few of her own personal belongings in the attic upstairs. Her cat Oscar was also upstairs with those belonging, sleeping the day away lazily.

She heard a knock on the door though soon, and she walked up to the door, and saw Paula through the peephole.

_Damn! That was only about 10 seconds!_ she thought to herself, as she opened the door to see the pink-clad girl looking up at her, "Well, you're here fast. I didn't realize you meant THAT soon." she said.

Paula laughed, "I didn't really tell you, did I?" she replied.

"About what?" Nina asked.

"My speed. I didn't use it too much in the earlier days since I didn't really feel I needed to use it, but I seem to be extremely fast moving when I need to. I've always been that way, and Goku could even vouch for me, or even Muten Roshi, that goofy old pervert." she then grumbled slightly, rolling her eyes at the thought of the old martial arts master.

"I take it you want to get this started soon as well." Nina realized, and she walked outside, and shut the door behind her.

"By the way, is Radditz there now?" Paula asked.

"He's probably off training Teresa and Dan right now. He's sure not here." Nina told her.

"Oh well, just curious. You told me you knew of a few far and away training spots. So I guess you can lead the way." Paula replied as if it wasn't a big deal.

Nina replied, "Yeah, it's up way north and a bit east though. Don't mind me though. I'm just a bit tired still. I do think I can get us started off fast. I'll explain when we get to our designated spot." The two women then flew up into the air, and Nina flew up and northeast, towards the spot where she was intending to go, Paula following from behind, probably slower than normal, Nina thought to herself.

Ironically, the place were Nina and Paula would stop at had only been looked at by Piccolo and #17 in their fly-over of Canton only 10 minutes before. It was a large forested area with a clearing here or there. It was located north of the Belden Village area, about half way from Belden Village to the Akron-Canton airport. It was also south of a candy factory known as Harry London's Chocolates.

Nina realized if Mr. Buu had ever found this place that he'd be visiting it often, and chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" asked Paula.

"I just thought of Buu's appetite for sweets. There's a candy factory a little north of this place where mostly chocolates are made. Buu would be going on a chowing rampage if he had found this place back when we all got back from California." Nina explained.

"I noticed there's a good deal of large trees and obstacles here." Paula said, looking around.

"Yes, unlike what the others seem to be doing, we're going to go for something a little different. I believing having obstacles to dodge around or jump over will help us get faster. You see Paula, you kinda have a good idea with being fast. I think I can also catch up a little by training here. Also, as for what I said when I have another method, well, here... I'll let you experience it for yourself." she said, raising her hands out and shooting a black wave at Paula, which then formed into a strange aura around her.

Paula grunted, feeling like her body weight had doubled, and had about fallen to her knees, "Nina, what the heck?"

"I overheard something from Goku and Vegeta the other night, about how they use high gravity to quickly train themselves. I realized a time ago that I can alter the field of gravity around individual people, and even myself, so I think that can help us." Nina explained, so Paula wouldn't think to attack for the wrong reason.

Paula blinked, and sweatdropped, laughing nervously as she had managed to get to her feet, "Ah... I see. It's like a better version of Goku's weighted clothing."

"Well, don't get too giddy. We'll be wearing that stuff too at times. We won't start off that way, though." Nina said, now grabbing one of her own arms with another, and emitting a black field of energy around herself. Nina almost doubled over from the now double-weight of her body, "By the way, this is 2.5 times normal Earth gravity."

Paula nodded and asked, "Now what? We run around?"

"Well yes, but we need to also try to do lots of laps around that clearing over there," Nina had gotten to standing upright, and had pointed to a track-like clearing about 140 yards around, "But we also need to fire off our ki better, and we also need to lift rocks, and other weights. At least to start off. We're probably actually do sparring another day. Now we're just gonna break our new 2.5x gravity in."

The two women both understood what was to be done, and soon set off to the track-field to start doing laps. They were going to try for 125 laps in less than 4 hours to start off.

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 10:32am; Canton, Ohio)

Mr. Buu, Goku, Vegeta, Alex, Jason and Vernon had all finally arrived at the spot Buu had found for their spar. It was an odd place on the western side of the city, between the cities of Canton and Massillon to the west. It was in a way an abandoned stadium-like spot. Buu had chose the spot due to the massive area, and the walls made it hard for any outsiders to interrupt their match. Buu had been looking forward to a spar, as he hadn't had a real fight in some time.

He looked at Goku and Vegeta and said, "Buu gonna fight at full power! Goku, Vegeta need to transform!"

Alex, Jason and Vernon, sitting in some dug-out like stands nearby, had gone back to their training to hold SSJ as long as possible, while they were also going to try to keep an eye on the three sparring warriors. Goku stared over at Buu and gave a slight shout as his hair flashed golden, and grew down to knee height, indicating he was now Super Saiya-jin 3. And Vegeta screamed out, his hair flashing gold, and spiking up more wide to the sides, indicating he was a Super Saiya-jin 2.

Alex's ki sense picked his up, and he was overwhelmed, "Holy shit, that is sweet!" he cried out, definitely now going to aspire to reach that level and beyond. He knew doing so would make him the strongest Misfit, at least in his mind.

Jason and Vernon did not know how to sense ki, but the air flowing off of their bodies was still felt like a hurricane against their skin. If they had been normal human strength at this time, they'd have not been able to withstand it and watch as the three figures suddenly vanished from sight. Alex, Vernon and Jason's eyes widened.

"Shit, they're moving so fast we can't even pick their energies up!" Alex growled, not liking to be totally unaware of what was to come. Now Vernon had also began to realize some extent of what Piccolo and #17 could do if he had fought them at their full strength, as he saw a trench dug up by a stray blast near their location.

Goku charged in fast at Mr. Buu and delivered a kick to his back. Buu flew forward, but he barely registered damage, as Vegeta had formed a high-strength Final Flash which was shot directly into Buu. The blast tore through part of Buu's stomach, leaving a small hole in the side. Buu however calmly regenerated his injury, and then cupped his hands to the side, and fired off a medium-strength Kamehameha which flew straight at the Saiya-jin and smacked into his chest, and knocked him back and slightly downwards. Vegeta flew out of the shot's path after a while, and he saw Goku axehandle the Majin over the head, and sent him spinning in a cannonball towards the ground.

Mr. Buu however managed to turn his decent into a forward roll into midair, and quickly zanzokened above Goku and Vegeta and quickly charged a Galic Gun to shoot down at Goku. Goku prepared a Kamehameha and managed to fire his off a half-second before Buu shot his Galic Gun. The two blasts collided. For a while, the blasts held about even, but soon Goku's blast began to win out. Vegeta then cupped his hands in front of him, forming a second Final Flash which merged with Goku's blast and help boost it over towards Buu.

However Buu soon realized he was going to lose the beam war and zanzokened out of the way of the impending double shot. He reappeared from above Goku and smashed into him bottom first, plowing both of them down through the air, soon cutting a large hole into the ground, as both made impact. Vegeta looked down with a small drop of sweat on his forehead, while Vernon, Alex and Jason looked on in shock.

"Did he just do a body press!" asked Jason, and he began to wonder about something of his own in his head. He had been developing a physical move in similar structure to a body press except the hit was meant to be more horizontal, and the attack also was done with the moderate intention of grossing out his enemy.

Soon, Goku managed to powerup and throw Buu off of him, and jumped out of the hole in the ground. Vegeta quickly flew down at Buu, but Buu turned quickly and swung his leg into Vegeta's head, sending the Saiya-jin prince rocketing upward about 30 feet. Vegeta recovered and flew back down and shot a twin-handed blast, which looked as if he were to hit Buu from the front, but as Buu prepared to block it, Vegeta aimed it behind Buu and the double blast hit him in the back, burning a small indent in the Majin's body.

"Sneaky sneaky!" Buu replied, as he landed on the ground, "Me done! We train kids now!" he said.

Alex growled, "Hey you fatso, I'm no 'kid'!"

Vernon chuckled, "You let everything rile you up, don't you?"

"Shut up Vernon!" Alex growled back.

"Dur dur..." Vernon taunted.

"QUIET!" Jason growled at the other two, "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Whatever Jason." Alex grumbled, although Vernon did calm down. He didn't want to lose Jason as a competitor. It wouldn't so interesting if he dropped out of their race to power. Goku and Vegeta powered down to base level1, back to a point, where Alex could vaguely get a normal comparison of his power to theirs.

_Dammit! I NEED to transform more! I'll never surpass them at this rate._ Alex thought to himself.

The three elder Misfits had decided they would start training their students again. Buu had even decided he might pitch in a little to the training.

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 10:27am; Canton, Ohio)

As the two rode around Canton in their new motorcycles, #17 and Piccolo had basically been about neck and neck. #17 had called back to Piccolo a short time after the two had taken off, and called him slow, so Piccolo had decided to speed up and compete with the cyborg.

"Don't bother! I'll beat you at your own game!" Piccolo growled over at him.

"Aw come on Piccolo! At least smile and show that you're having fun! You're gloom and doom face doesn't look right when you're enjoying something!" #17 replied back with a taunt.

Piccolo smirked, "Fine, you wanna play it that way, I want to challenge you then!"

"You got my attention!" #17 called back, as he followed Piccolo down a few roads, as they closed in close to the city of Massillon. Piccolo soon stopped his motorcycle and #17 looked at him in confusion. He then watched as Piccolo AND his motorcycle floated up into the air, until to the point he was at roof level with a nearby building. He set the motorcycle on the top.

"I see your little game." #17 mused, and similarly levitated himself and his bike onto the roof, and landed near Piccolo.

"So what, we're gonna jump from building to building?" he asked the Namek.

"No. We're going to see who can go the furthest through the air only on a forward thrust of Ki alone. No vertical flight." Piccolo explained.

#17 understood this, "Roger wilco." as he revved up his bike, "Better hurry Piccolo. I'm a real speed demon in the air!" he cheered on as Piccolo revved up his own bike and both shot off into the air. Using a ramp-like structure on the edge of the room to give them their own upward thrust as they flew off.

As they flew over the area, #17 realized Piccolo seemed to actually be enjoying himself. Although he wondered if it might have only been because he wanted to show the cyborg up so much.

_That fool thinks just because he's stronger than me know that he's better than me at everything. I'll show his pompous ass!_ he then formed a smirk, and sped up his forward thrust.

Piccolo saw this and grumbled, turning up the juice as well. Both flew flying at a steady attitude, only slightly lessening every few feet. Most human motorists would see this as something only an act of God would allow, but the two aerial competitors knew much better than they did. As they flew forward, they began to see a strange looking stadium come into view. It was only then #17 and Piccolo then realized something.

_Shit! Goku, Vegeta and Buu are at that stadium! Wait... so are Alex, Vernon and Jason._ Piccolo thought to himself.

#17 had been thinking the same thing, but then he smirked, as he turned his cycle to aim towards the stadium. Piccolo saw this and copied after him, and both began to slowly increase in decent as they approached the stadium. Soon, they let down on the energy boost and let themselves fall conveniently low enough that they would fall inside of the walls of the stadium. #17 snickered as he saw Goku, Vegeta and Buu spot him and Piccolo flying in. Alex, Jason and Vernon had not yet noticed. However, soon Alex turned his head and sensed Piccolo, and looked up just in time to see #17 only a few feet from landing on him.

In an impressive feat of reaction, even for him, Alex had managed to just barely roll out of the way of the motorcycle and its' occupant as it finally hit the ground and left a few sparks behind as it zoomed ahead. Piccolo landed at roughly the same time, a few inches behind Jason and Vernon, and luckily found an open spot between the two and zoomed past them fast, causing them to spin around several times in place at high speed. As the two zoomed past the bewildered younger teenage saiya-jin, they came in closer to Vegeta, Goku and Buu.

"That look fun! Buu wanna try that!" Buu cheered as he watched the Namekian and cyborg zoom in close.

"Namek, Cyborg! What the hell are you two doing!" Vegeta on the other hand was annoyed.

"COMPETITION." both said flatly as they zoomed past him. Vegeta raised his eyebrow a little.

Goku chuckled, "Well, that brought back memories."

"You're not talking about your cursed driving test ordeal you two clowns had to take, are you!" Vegeta grumbled at him.

"Yep." Goku laughed, as he saw #17 and Piccolo lift up into the air, still on their motorcycles as they flew off out of the stadium, and then flying out of their range of sight, although not necessarily ki sense.

After that little ordeal, Piccolo grumbled at his cyborg ally, "Cute trick, but that's enough for today." and then he said, "We outta get these bikes back home in one piece. We gave them quite a bumpy landing."

"Fine, ruin my fun." #17 joked, but he too knew he didn't want to wreck his new toy so fast, so he decided to go along with Piccolo, "You still think we should look around?"

"No. We need to get back to thinking about training with the others. I know Vegeta's not gonna be impressed by what we did, but it serves him right for getting drunk off his ass the other night."

"Yeah, I wish I had been there to see that. I outta ask for the whole explanation out of Nina sometime." #17 laughed, "I still don't know too much from the first time he and Goku pull that little drink-off stunt."

The two zoomed off towards Vernon's house, but then they realized, "Maybe we should find a different place to land these." #17 suggested.

Piccolo shrugged. He was a little concerned Vernon, Alex, Jason, or someone else in their little gang might try to make off with his cycle, and although he didn't want to admit it to anyone, he was starting to actually like his motorcycle. The two zoomed off southwards into the distance to find their makeshift cycle place...

(September 12, 2001 A.D.; 2:31pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back on their own training field, Radditz, Dan and Teresa had continued their training. Now Teresa had been given some of Goku's type of training weights in addition to the spare armor plate Radditz had made her wear the day before. She wasn't getting nearly as worn out so fast. She realized this when she had compared her now 1,512 powerlevel to the 13.4 she started with the day before. It was more than a 100 times increase from the day before. Radditz was a little impressed, and he realized Goku more than likely knew more about the training methods than he did. He might have been many times stronger than the mere 1,200 something he had when he first died on Earth before, but he still had much to learn from his little brother and prince.

He then thought about to something he overheard Goku and Vegeta mention about using high gravity to train. Radditz knew most Saiya-jin where raised in an environment which was 5 to 10 times Earth's normal gravity. He also knew from Vegeta that his wife Bulma, and her own father had the genius to build artificial gravity chambers. He needed to find a way to incorporate this into his training schedule somehow. Another thing had been on his mind though too. He was wondering about his little plan about the sensu bean he had gotten from Piccolo the other night. His actual idea was that he wanted to try to grow a full-blown sensu plant, which would hopefully net them more beans in the long run.

He had learned the other night from Goku on the phone that an old teacher of his named Korin had been the grower of the beans. Radditz ended up admitting his little plan to his younger brother, who return promised to keep it a secret, but he warned that he wasn't sure if his brother's plan would succeed. Korin didn't usually grow very many beans in a long period of time. Sometimes the crop was excellent, like the first time Goku had even met Korin, where he literally had over 100 sensu available, before Yajirobe had eaten half or more of them that day2. But then there were times where he could only get as many as 3 in a period of 6 months or more. Radditz realized this might not he so easy as he had thought.

After the session was done for the day, Radditz had scanned Teresa and Dan with his scouter. Dan was now around 19,043, and Teresa was around 8,468. He himself had grown to around 65,536 at the end of the day. He smirked, wondering what that fat bastard Dodoria would say now to his new power. He was already double of what he had when he healed from his return to the living plane.

He then wondered to himself, _Just why WAS I revived? I was sent to Hell for a reason. I wasn't supposed to come back, and I know it wasn't the Dragonballs._

Radditz had learned over his time dead that most sets of Dragonballs could only grant each wish once, and that people dead over a year were usually not able to be resurrected, so that was why he suspected there was a divine motive, something much like how Steve and Dwayne had explained it, some kind of voice had spoken to them before they had been all sent to meet with him and the others. He looked over to Dan and Teresa.

The new girl looked over and noticed the odd expression on his face, "You okay Radditz?"

"Wha... oh yeah... just thinking about something in the back of my mind." he replied.

"That idea of yours?" Dan asked.

"Not as much that, but more of why I came back." Radditz then admitted.

"Well, maybe fate wanted to give you a second chance. Sometimes it's best not to think too much on stuff you don't understand too well. Sometimes you get a headache if you think about it too much." Dan replied.

Radditz grumbled, "Yeah yeah, kid. I know. I guess that's a wrap for the day. Head on home, or train on your own. Whatever you wish. I'm heading back home. I have to think about something else too." Dan and Teresa nodded, and they lifted to the air and headed off for home.

Radditz soon had flown back northeast, landing over at the place he and Nina were at. He noticed she was out at the moment, and headed in, and looked around the ground floor a slight bit. Radditz might have shared a section of the place with her, but he never really understood a large amount about the winged girl. He knew that trying to point his scouter at her location that she had a strong enough powerlevel that she'd eventually blow the scouter up due to his newly found ki sense, but that was all he knew about her. He tapped into his new found sense, and searched out for her, and found her energy was close to... apparently Paula's. Both had a sense that they were strained on by something, and their powerlevels felt slightly lower than normal.

"Maybe they're training too and I didn't really think to ask her about it." he said to himself. Then his thought shifted elsewhere.

He wondered, "If Vegeta's mate isn't here to support us, we're going to probably need to get money soon. I know Paula has some, but she can't probably hold us up forever." he thought. He had learned from his experiences in the last week that businesses and jobs were a necessity to normal people to live, but he felt that such a thing wasn't thinkable for a Saiya-jin to do. Saiya-jin were fighters, not businessmen. But he knew that with the lot of the others training, maybe he should try to find a part-time job, as Nina sometimes would call them. He soon heard the door open, and he saw Nina walk in.

"Well, you're back a little early." he started, making her look to him.

"So are you." she replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I know. I got a lot on my mind. What about you? I felt your powerlevel being strained, and... WOAH! It's higher than earlier!" he realized as he sensed her again.

"You sure about that?" Nina tried to cover it up.

"You're training too, aren't you?" he asked.

Nina sighed, figuring with Radditz around, he'd find out sooner or later, "Yes. Paula and I are training each other. I don't think it's anything too serious though."

"Well I hope you all train the best you can. Maybe you can find a away to bring out that rage you used on that asshole back the school you went to." Radditz said, mentioning to her of Jackson.

Nina growled, "Don't remind me of that right now. Ugh! That little punk pisses me off so much! It's not just because he rats out on me, but because of his hate to Alex and the others, but especially Alex. You see, Alex and Jackson... they used to be good friends, almost to the point of best friends when they were in Kindergarten to 4th grade. However, after a while, Alex's Cerebral Palsy, which he no longer has now, became bad enough he started having to ride around in a wheelchair. When Jackson saw him like that, he turned around and stabbed him in the back, so to speak. From then on, he hated Alex, and Alex grew to dislike, and then totally hate him as High School came in."

"Why is he so mad at **you**?" Radditz asked.

"Well, here's where I came into the picture. For one, look good at me Radditz. My wings are impossible to hide from anyone, and they stick out like sore thumbs. People thought I was a mutant, or some freak of nature. Most of the younger, more immature population at the school started hating on me, but it wasn't until Jackson started to taunt me about my wings, and even my height, that it became a fad." Nina explained.

"I see now. I guess that guy's really bad news. I noticed he seemed to know about Austin, er Steve. But he started hating on him after he saw Steve with us." Radditz commented, wondering how Jackson would react if he had gotten a glimpse of his tail in the open. He'd probably be called a freak for it as well, even if he could lay Jackson flat in one flick of the finger. Even after Nina had come close to killing him, he was still brave enough to utter a last insult at the group back at the school.

"Wait, there's more. I don't know if you heard it from anyone else, but I was the one who healed Alex of his Cerebral Palsy. It was only about 2 and a half months ago, but after that, Alex slowly regained his bearings again, and that's why he's even able to train now. He never admitted it to anyone else, but he did personally thank me in private over the phone one night. However, Jackson has this thing where he believes once you're a freak, you'll always be a freak to the end of your life. When I cured Alex, I destroyed part of his credibility, since he also hated on Alex in front of his friends, even though more of them liked him than me. His hate towards me skyrocketed, and his hate and disdain for Alex rose as well. He was bad enough before I healed Alex, but now he doesn't think half the time before insulting me. He's even done it in front of the teachers a few times out of reaction." Nina cut in and explained more to Radditz.

"Well, either way, you're powerlevel was impressive. I could sense it was higher than Piccolo's. I even heard him tell Dusty that he would've been an ant to you if he had been in Jackson's shoes instead." Radditz replied.

"Yeah, that's another thing that's been on my mind: Dusty. He's not a bad kid, and he's an excellent cook, having had many of his own dishes, and his friends are actually nice enough to me in the Heritage Room, although Viola seems to act slightly jealous when I'm around, it's usually more for fun."

"What is it?" Radditz asked her.

"It's almost as if he has a special place for me somewhere. He's never the least bit cautious to fight back verbally against Jackson, because he knows Jackson's friends admire Dusty too much due to his reputation and cooking skills, and they would side with Dusty before him. I've noticed a lot of his anger at Jackson seems more or less having to do with Jackson's hate towards me." Nina explained.

"You ever think he might actually like you?" Radditz had suggested, making a shot in the dark.

"Not really. I mean, if he does, he can hide it well from me. I don't think anyone else would know either if he did." Nina looked down, and said almost to herself.

"Well, I hate to cut you short. But I must get some lone time to think over my next move. I need to find a job, I believe. I don't think we can just expect to go stealing shit from people around here and expect to be treated like heroes. We need money, and I don't think Paula, Dwayne or Steve can keep us afloat there forever." Radditz then cut in.

"Alright, but you're a Saiya-jin, right? I know your kind eats much more than a human can." Nina spoke up.

"Yeah, although Kakarott is a golden-sheep in that area. He can eat 5 times more than any Saiya-jin I know can, even myself, and I can eat a lot myself when hungry." Radditz replied.

"Try to get a part-time job at a fast-food place, or at a restaurant. Usually employees will also get the bonus of some degree of free food. It might be enough to keep you going at the job, but I warn you, there are a lot of idiot people you'll run into, customers and employees alike." Nina advised.

"Alright, I think I'll start there." the tall Saiya-jin replied, as he walked back into the kitchen, and then through the door leading to the basement.

Nina sighed, thinking about her training with Paula. She was a good student, and while she was a little agitated about gravity training at firstlike about anyone not used to doing it, she soon got the hang of it, and was able to adapt almost fully to it. Nina herself had also become a quick study at it, and realized that they were going to have to bump it up to 5x or higher very soon. She did wondered a little about that burst of power she gave off when she almost strangled Jackson to death, and then the comment Radditz had given about her going up a good amount in less than a full day. 

It was too bad she knew his scouter couldn't read a powerlevel as high as hers'. She knew his scouter could only go to 240,000 before it exploded, or just stopped scanning the person. She was well above that now. She figured she'd think more on it another time. She had just gotten home, and her talk with Radditz about her, Alex and Jackson's chaotic relationship had distracted her from going to her room to sleep. She opened the door to her room and walked in, closing it behind her.

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1** **"Base"** or **"Base level"** term used with characters who can transform. When the character has not transformed in any way at the current point, they are at their "base" level.

**2** If you saw the Piccolo Saga in Dragonball, you'll remember when Yajirobe took Goku to Korin Tower, Korin had literally hundreds of sensu beans, but after Z started, he could only spare as much as maybe 3-4 per saga, maybe 8 at best. It makes little sense to me, although I will try to get into how that happened, and Radditz realizes without knowing where Korin tower is on the merged Earth yet, they might need an alternative source of sensus.


	10. Part 9: Weighted Clothing and Chicken Mc

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan, Neil © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa, Orange-Eyed Creature © Me  
-----------------------------

**Part 9: Weighted Clothing and Chicken McNuggets!**

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 1:00am; Canton, Ohio)

In the wee hours of that night, in the region of Fohl Village, anyone flying over would have seen a bright yellow light pulsing from the southern end of the park. At the source of the large source of light was one figure, standing in the middle of a long and vacant field, the tall weeds around him being blown all around, struggling not to be uprooted by the energy given off. Clint looked around into the night, using the calmness to train his Super Saiya-jin power. He realized that he needed to hold it in long enough that he could use it normally. He had remembered on the Dragonball Z show something about how both Goku and Gohan had managed to train their SSJ level to a point where it was much like turning it into their base, and had little drain on their powers, or 'Full Power Super Saiya-jin' as many internet fans called it. 'Full power' didn't sound right to Clint, and he called it 'Energy Controlled' as the name made more sense.

Clint had managed to get control at last on triggering the transformation fully at will, but he knew until he reached energy controlled level that he would probably never get to SSJ2. He also realized that was probably the same problem Alex, Vernon and Jason were experiencing. He wasn't sure if those three had gotten far enough long to start trying to go for ECSSJ. He had heard from Alex joke over the phone earlier that night about how Jason seemed to go "USSJ" very often, and Clint could only chuckle, trying to imagine Jason looking so tall, and over-bulked to the point of being stationary. He soon powered down, having been SSJ now for over around 2 full hours at once. He was tired enough for now to go back to sleep. Besides, some people hated all the light in their windows, even if his own parents couldn't see it with their own bedroom fashioned to keep light out of it. He sighed to himself, wondering about his next day's training with Devin and the others, and walked onto the porch on his house, and then back inside of the house itself.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 5:29am; Canton, Ohio)

Later that morning, Alex had woke up at 5:10, a little earlier than usual. He had gotten out of bed, cleaned up and ate at a record time of only 5 minutes total, and had been waiting out in his backyard, transforming to Super Saiya-jin at a low strength. He was starting to slightly get the hang of controlling his transformations at will. He also mused as he knew Vernon had been getting closer to getting that far. Jason on the other hand, was still having problems not bulking up to 2nd grade or higher, but he wasn't so reliant on anger now to keep as SSJ. Alex tensed slightly as he picked up Jason, and then Vernon's kis coming in towards him.

He still easily felt Goku and Vegeta's high energies inside of the house they had rented out next door, and then he sensed Buu's odd powerlevel coming in from the east. He then felt out and sensed Dusty and Heero's powerlevels side by side not to terribly far away. He had found out they were using the vacant lot near Devin's own house to train. Not that it concerned him too much. Their powerlevels were better then before, but his was still higher for now, and that was fine with him. Additionally he had a transformation which all of them, except Clint, lacked.

Alex grumbled at that last notion. "How the hell can he be an SSJ anyways? According to everything we got on him, he's fully human, but that might just be some cover up by #17, or something." He then grumbled, as he knew the android... no cyborg, he corrected himself, for having a knack for leading people astray, especially after almost getting landed on by his motorcycle the day before.

"Why the hell where he and Piccolo on motorcycles anyways?" he asked himself, confused still at all of that from back then. However he was stopped as he saw Mr. Buu, Jason and Vernon land nearby. He noticed Vernon was already transformed as well, and so was Jason. Jason still looked slightly strained though, but today he didn't look as if his anger would pump him up like a balloon.

Alex smirked, _You know, I might be seeing this all wrong. Maybe competition is exactly what I need to get better. Trying to get ahead of Goku will be hard enough, so I might as well start off with what I can still chew off._ he then grumbled, as he would've never said that out loud to any of the others. He hated to admit when someone else was better than he was, even if it were usually at something trivial like a video game or something.

Alex was also an avid game player, and was heavily into fighting games, and even DBZ: Budokai. He was also hearing about plans for a second game in the series to come out in mid-November this year. But he remembered as he and Vernon were always facing each other in the Tekken series. He wondered if his skills had lessened with his training in real life. Although Alex would've preferred truly having power as opposed to just having it in a video game too. Soon, he turned to the rented house nearby, as Goku and Vegeta stepped out, to meet over with the other four.

"Vegeta and I talked last night over it, and we also consulted Buu on it, and we've decided we're going to move to the arena near Massillon for now. It's a lot more open, and you three seem to be handling it fine." Goku told them, and then he looked over to Jason, "Hey, it looks like you finally got the hang of it Jason."

Jason sweatdropped, not liking to be reminded of the hard time he had been having holding SSJ.

"Hey Goku, is there anyway to give us a powerlevel comparison?" Vernon asked, curious.

"Not down to the number, even if I had Radditz's scouter, you're all strong enough to cause it to explode." Goku said.

"Big deal. Vernon, your powerlevel is the highest, Alex's is in the middle, and Jason's is a bit below his. The gap isn't really that large, but enough for me to notice." Vegeta cut in. Alex sighed, and Jason frowned at this, while Vernon barely hid a smirk.

"Let's get moving!" Buu declared out happily, as he lifted up into the air eagerly, and the other five lifted up, and all six shot off northwestward to reach the abandoned stadium.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 6:32am; Canton, Ohio)

Back at the vacant lot, Dusty and Heero had gotten some additional time in for about an hour. Heero needed some extra training, and he knew it. Dusty had decided to also teach him the Stone Cold Stunner in the meanwhile, despite Heero's protests. He said it was stupid to use such outdated moves in a battle. Dusty just laughed loudly at him, explaining the moves aren't all just to train against enemy attack. Heero had soon learned Dusty and at one time, even Dan had been big on joining the WWE and the WCW when they had been younger. Dan had outgrown it, but it still stuck somewhat with Dusty. Heero had been upgraded to level 3 training clothing, having been considered ready by Dusty.

Soon enough though, Dwayne and Steve arrived, soon followed by Devin. "You two are early." Devin commented.

"Yeah really, what're you doing here so soon Dusty? According to your mom, you left at around 5:15." Steve asked him sternly.

"Well sorry guys, but I talked to Heero about how he needed some more training, and he himself was interested, so we met up here a little early. It's not a crime, is it?" Dusty grumbled.

Dwayne sighed, "If you see it that way, I guess it's no big deal. I see you tried to teach him the Stunner too."

"How did you..."

"Dusty, your interests in wrestling have always shown you to try to teach people a move or two in sessions. It's not a big surprise to us. Has he mastered the Stunner yet?" Steve replied simply.

"Well, he can do it just fine, but he's embarrassed about using 'outdated' moves in a real fight." Stone Cold chuckled heartily, "Heero, you've got a lot to learn about just how 'useless' our moves really are. I've noticed a lot of the other groups of Misfits have been focusing around using their ki, almost too much. A good few punches and kicks are also necessary to understand, and even some more advanced moves. Do you realize how easily I could break an equal-strength opponents' neck if I did the Stunner on them from mid-air?"

"Thought didn't really cross my mind." Heero grumbled.

"Yeah, and trust me. My people's elbow can hurt from high up if it lands solid." Dwayne said to him.

"Maybe they're not too devastating in the ring since the sport's on more human terms, but in a real battle, those wrestling moves can easily turn the tables, if used correctly." Devin even admitted to them.

Soon, Clint and Virgil had arrived at last. "Hey, you two goofs are late!" Dusty called over as he spotted them, making the others turn to Clint and Virgil as well.

"Sorry, I did some overnight training and had a hard time getting up properly." Clint replied.

"What were you doing, you doofus?" Devin asked him.

"Just trying to figure out how to reach Energy-Controlled Super Saiya-jin, and kept powered up for about 2 hours straight."

"Damn!" Devin grumbled, feeling quite a bit jealous, "You don't understand just how much I wish I could do what you could Clint."

"I bet. Especially with Alex, Jason and Vernon also able to do it." Clint replied, making Devin grumble at the mention of Jason and Alex. Vernon was his best friend basically, so it wasn't a problem there, but Alex's arrogance, and Jason's tendency to be random as hell got under Devin's skin at times.

"Anyways, why the hell's Virgil late?" asked Steve.

"He bumped into me on my way there. I was talking to him a little bit. I was also making sure he knows he's gonna have to train harder today."

"Hah, I'm surprised he still came then, at that rate!" Devin said, half-taunting at Virgil.

"Oh shut up. I can take whatever you can, and more!" Virgil grumbled back.

"Is that a fact?" Devin challenged, "Then you won't mind if you undergo a special regimen I found out from Goku."

"Shoot. I'll do anything to get stronger." Virgil said back. Devin pulled some level 2 weighted clothing out of a briefcase he had brought with him, and tossed them over to Virgil, who caught them with a bit of difficulty.

"You need to put that on at the least first." he told the fatter Misfit. Virgil found a small changing area they had set up near the lot the day before, and went back into privacy and got into the training clothes. Virgil trudged out of the room, having a bit of difficulty walking over to them.

"Now.. what?" he asked.

Devin then got out some level 3 training clothes, and went back to the dressing area and slipped into them, and walked back out, only looking to be slightly hindered by even those. "I want you to chase me on foot, and try as hard as you can to catch me!" he said.

Virgil sweatdropped, but he sighed, "Fine! Ready or not, here I come!" he ran to accelerate at Devin, but he had tried to start off a bit too fast, and ended up tripping over and crashing into the ground, creating a 1.4 tremor.

"Woah! Damn Virgil, you really do shake the ground when you fall!" Dusty commented, not really as an insult, but as a realization. Virgil grumbled, pulling himself slowly to his feet, and growled feral as he started to chase after Devin, who only looked to be mildly trying to run away from Virgil.

In the meanwhile, Clint looked over to Dusty, Heero, Dwayne and Steve, "So what should we start with? More weight training?"

Steve looked over, "Well, actually, I think the lot of us should start learn to use ki more ourselves. I might have said physical moves help, but none of us have too many ki abilities yet." he then looked directly at Clint, "Can you do any real blasts yet?"

"I have been able to do a Kamehameha, and then even control a Soukidan like the kind Jason and Yamcha use. I'm also trying to form another move that I know as the 'great equalizer'." Clint explained.

"Why don't we just start off and try to charge our ki a little bit to shoot larger blasts, and then we'll try to shot signature moves." Heero suggested, a bit impatient to start off.

"Yeah, that seemed to be how Alex and Vernon did it during their earlier training." Clint agreed, as he looked over the ground near him, and quickly shot a stream of 10 small ki shots into the ground in front of him, leaving a small crater in the ground.

"Let's not wreck the place up too much man." Dusty said, "Remember, we're not in any kind of place were training is barely felt by the natives."

Clint frowned, "I know that Dusty, It's kinda depressing we have to worry so much about it."

"Yeah, but I think it gives us more motive to keep control of our ki." Dusty said back, having been truthful about that. It was true that many of the Misfits didn't currently have the luxury of massive and uninhabited areas to go crazy with their training, despite the vast size of the lot. Dusty was wondering how long it'd be before that would really began to limit their growth of power.

Dusty then decided he'd lead off for the others, and charged a short amount of ki by forcing it into his hand, and shot a medium-sized, but weak blast that left a scorch mark on the ground. He then charged his energy and quickly fire three more shots at the same place. Now the ground looked slightly melted in. Dwayne also had taken Dusty's example, pelting the ground with minor ki blasts, about 5 or 6, because of how much he was struggling to do so. He had left a small melt in the ground in front of him as well. Heero, on the other hand, had cupped his hands to the side, and looked like he just wanted to skip onto a Kamehameha.

"Heero, you sure it's wise to start off so high?" Steve looked over to him, as he had nonchalantly shot a few small blasts at a few stationary pieces of trash on the side of the road to train himself.

"Don't bother me right now!" Heero snapped back. "Ka... me... ha... me... ha!" he finished and propelled his hands upward shooting a medium-sized Kamehameha wave into the atmosphere.

Virgil and Devin had also witnessed this and Virgil had fallen over a second time trying to stop on a dime, and caused a another small tremor. Heero so let up on his wave, looking a moderate deal worn out, but nothing severe.

He smiled, "Good, at least I know I can do it now."

Soon, Devin picked up running from Virgil again. Quite a few times he would slightly taunt the weaker of the two by slowing down a little, just enough to let Virgil think he was wearing down, and then would pick up speed as Virgil attempted to lunge at him. A lot of times, Virgil had to peel himself off the ground, grumbling and wanting to scream obscenities at Devin, but he knew this was training, and Devin was just probably trying to get him to get a few hard knocks for experiences' sake. He swore though he would catch him, even if Devin was the stronger one at the time.

Virgil wondered about trying to trick him, but he figured _He's too easy to trick anyways, I'll just play along for now, I guess._ After about another 40 minutes of running around, Virgil had realized he was close to being exhausted.

"Devin, I need a break!" he wheezed.

Devin shrugged, "I guess I can go train with them for about 10 minutes, but don't get too comfortable Virgil." Clint had decided to move in a little bit away from the others to practice his ki usage more. It was then he noticed Virgil sitting on the ground, panting a lot.

"Virgil, you okay?" Clint asked.

"Damn, this is hard!" Virgil grumbled, "How do you people adapt so fast!"

"Well, I think it's a matter of gritting your teeth and dealing with it." Clint replied, and then he began to think about the other night, "Virgil, exactly why did you prank the others anyways? I wasn't around when it happened, but they said something about getting their attention."

Virgil looked over, "You guys left when you won the Talon ST contest. I knew you all went over to Japan, but I figured you'd be gone only a few days. It was on the 5th I realized you guys had been home for a few days, and when you still hadn't shown up on the 8th, I got worried. I decided I'd get a hold of some of you in a way to annoy them. You guys had been annoying me by not checking in..."

"So you annoyed those guys back, I get it now... sorta." Clint replied, "But why choose to train with us? I thought you weren't a big fan of Devin, Alex, Jason and Vernon."

"The training is solely because of the 11th, and those fucking terrorists Clint. I wouldn't be training at all if they hadn't done this. I was never the biggest fan of things like Dragonball, but now that I realize this merger has done something to our world, I guess now it's good to utilize it to my best need." Virgil replied.

After a few more minutes, Devin finished up his minor training with Dwayne, Heero, Dusty and Steve, noticing Heero had done a second, weaker Kamehameha wave up into the air, and Dusty had now done one of his own, much to his surprise. He walked over back to Virgil and Clint.

"Clint, Virgil's got to get back to his guns. Go off and train or something." Devin said.

Clint rolled his eyes a little, "Whatever. Hey, you want to spar later?" he then asked.

"Why? Unless you're going to stay at base, there's no point. You'd kick my ass." Devin replied.

"Yeah, at base. Besides, I need to get my base stronger too anyways." Clint said.

"How about in an hour or two then." Devin replied. With that, Devin coached Virgil to his feet, and the two larger Misfits went back to the running/chasing exercise, and Virgil was amusingly still trying to lunge at Devin once in a while...

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 7:01am; Canton, Ohio)

Back in the fields south of Harry London's, Nina and Paula had arrived at their designated training spot for their second day. After a short talk about the day's training methods, Nina mentioned how she'd probably increase the gravity to around 4x of Earth's. Now both had been standing stiffly, trying to adjust their balance to begin their training. They were going to probably try to run laps again, about 125 once again. However this time, they were planning to take some breaks from the running. Paula had discussed that morning over the phone about using rocks and other small throwing objects in order to dodge better.

Nina had been interested, stating it might help increase their speed. She however also wanted the two of them to try to fire off some normal ki, as neither girl had really yet tried to do so yet. Paula had smacked herself mentally, realizing she was right. Goku well knew how to shoot ki, and everyone else had been able to do the same pretty much, therefore they felt left behind a little. It was suddenly that Paula had realized: Nina didn't know how to sense or mask her ki. She knew that it was Nina's fault for flying off the other day, she knew that teaching her about it would probably be a good idea.

"Nina, Wait a minute! Before we do anything else, did you ever learn how to mask and sense ki energies?" she asked.

Nina looked around suddenly, and smacked her head. "Aw hell! I knew I'd probably forgotten something the other day." she then sweatdropped, "Do you know how to do that stuff?" she then asked Paula.

The other girl smiled back, "Yeah, let's get you going first before we start the main training. Basically, for masking your energy, just try your hardest to shove your energy into a confined space, like trying to compress it." Paula replied, explaining in her best words the way one could mask and hide their ki energy. Nina nodded, and soon shoved her ki down about 50, as Paula was letting her know from her own ability to sense.

"How was that?" Nina asked.

"You cut your energy level in half at least. You can probably get better with it though." Paula recommended, but she figured Nina would get that down without her help, and went on explaining about sensing out ki like they were flames in the air.

Nina had a bit of difficulty understanding in those words, but Paula then explained more to the extent of feeling vibrations was a good stepping stone. Soon enough, Nina had finally been able to sense Paula's own ki, and then soon managed to sense the farther off kis of Clint, Dwayne, Dusty, Virgil, Devin, Steve, and then Mr. Buu, Goku, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo and Jason's kis in another area, and then he sensed Radditz, Dan, and apparently Teresa's kis in one area. Comparing her own powerlevel with her ally nearby, Nina realized she was only about 10-20 stronger than Paula at the moment, and realized they might end up making better partners than she thought. She then altered their gravity auras to be much like 4x gravity, and ran over to the track to run laps.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 7:42am; Canton, Ohio)

Radditz had earlier woke up, and checked the backyard behind his and Nina's house. That was where he had planted the sensu bean Piccolo had given him on the 11th. He looked on, but noticed no real progress just yet. He sulked to him, realizing, he needed to get to the fields south of Alex's house to continue training Teresa and Dan. He was going to try to get her firing off larger shots, and maybe even train Dan to fire some more high-scale attacks. Dan could do his own Saturday Crush, and also a Final Flash as well. Vegeta had growled a little upon Radditz telling him and Goku about that the night before, but then the prince shrugged it off, saying to his older comrade that he could always learn a new attack if he needed.

Radditz had then figured out that he too needed to create some kind of new attack of his own. Aside from the Saturday Crush and Double Sunday, he didn't really have much else in the neighborhood of signature blasts. He had been thinking about one specific move that he had starting thinking of back on the 11th, and only made more willing to know after the attacks of that day. He was curious on how to get mastery of it down. Also, he couldn't forget about Nina's suggestion to find a fast-food job. He had already called around, and had to go in and check a couple of places out, so he was going to have to make this session quick. He soon had finally met up with Dan and Teresa.

Apparently Dan had the shattering foresight to start showing Teresa how to shoot larger energy shots. He had witnessed Teresa doing a specific kind of blast, where she had cranked her arm backwards, almost like a pitcher, and had formed a medium-sized ball in her hand. Dan was apparently standing back, just as curious as Radditz. She then shouted out and tossed the ball much like a line-drive, sending the blast shooting out at over 100 MPH. However it wasn't that on it's own that was so important, as the fact she managed to make the shot turn around and fly back toward her.

"What the hell?" asked Radditz, as she saw Teresa direct her own blast back at herself. She then held out her hands and caught the blast in them, trying to push the ball away.

"What kinda bizarre training is that?" Dan asked. Teresa continued pressing up on her own attack, then forming a second ball in her hands that pushed the first ball back in the other direction, and then shot off forward as well. The two balls were now flying around 110 MPH, as she fired a third shot.

"Wait a minute! I think Kakarott told me about something like this before!" Radditz called out, recalling a time when Goku had used the method of shooting controlled blasts around the area, trying to withstand his own hits at a lower powerlevel, or dodge the shots as they whizzed around.

Teresa looked with an intense glare at the three moving shots she had fired. _I've gotta time these just right. If this works, I wonder if the other's will be impressed, or think I'm just eccentric!_ as she screamed, "MERGE!"

Radditz, Dan and Teresa watched in awe as the three blasts slowly began to merge together, and the combined energy began to expand forward, almost as if it were forming into a recognizable figure. In fact, Radditz's eyes almost bugged as the form actually because to resemble Teresa's own build. Dan looked on as the energy soon began to transform into what now looked like an energy clone of Teresa's own body.

Teresa looked on at this, "Now or never. ATTACK!" she then screamed.

Dan watched as the attack began to look solid, now much looking like Teresa itself. However to their surprise, the attack's "eyes" opened, and it jumped forward at Teresa, who jumped forward to meet what was now considered to be her 'ki clone' in mid-air. Both Teresas began to trade punches, and a kick or two occasionally. Teresa even felt a normal level of pain whenever her energy clone connected, and the clone, seemed to also feel a kind of damage when she hit it.

"What the hell did she just... did she create a living ki spirit?" Radditz gaped, as he watched the two Teresas jump up into the air, and the ki clone shot a blast of its' own at the real one, as she shot one back, and then teleported and elbowed the clone in the back.

The clone recovered and zanzokened below her and punched her in the stomach, sending the real Teresa flying upwards. Radditz had decided to see if his scouter could pick up something on this, and pointed it at the two fighting Teresas. Both had registered in at around 8,000 to 8,200 degrees, depending on who was currently attacking or defending.

"That's... can Kakarott even do that! Both she and her energy clone are both at roughly the same powerlevel as she'd have alone at the end of yesterday's session! Where'd she come up with that!"

Dan continued to watch the two Teresas in utter amazement, having realized she had done something probably most of his own friends had not even tried to think about at the time. He looked over to Radditz, to see his expression, noticing he was just as bugged out as he was at this. However, he soon saw Radditz narrow his eyes, and turn about 120 degrees to the south. Dan watched in wonder as he began to see a ki flare surge around the tall Saiya-jin. At first, the aura looked to be a bluish color. However soon, be noticed that the aura had began to change a little to an orangish hue.

Radditz himself had placed his hands on his forehead, or more specifically, 3 of his fingers to his forehead. It had almost looked like he was going to attempt to shoot Piccolo's Makankosoppo at something. However, at the last moment, he saw the ki aura change in a strange way towards the top. It was now appearing as if it were really burning like a flame. Dan noted that normal ki did not actually have any kind of heat or burning property on its' own. Ki was a concussive force when used offensively, which also explained its' explosive properties when it impacted with hard enough surfaces or much stronger fighters, and any burns on the body were usually friction burns from trying to hold a blast back with your hands, or from blocking the blast.

Also, contrary to what most believed, when a ki wave disintegrated an enemy, it wasn't because the enemy was burned and roasted alive, but it was because the ki force was so strong it was literally tearing the victim's body apart and into thin air. In the show, the effect made it look like fatal ki waves literally burned the enemy away. Radditz soon grunted to himself, noticing a flare of fire around his three fingers on his forehead.

"It's time..." he said to him, and pointed out the trio of fingers at the field ahead of him, "ATOMIC RAY!"

Dan, and even Teresa and her energy-made clone stopped and turned at his voice, watching as Radditz shot out an orange-looking ki laser, medium width at the field about 200 feet away. Except they noticed there had been a kind of fire around the laser. The blast slammed into the ground, erupting into both a large explosion, and also leaving flames behind that literally began to eat on the nearby wheat in the field around the blast crater. Radditz smirked at this blast, now realized he had finally managed to fire a successful Atomic Ray attack. He knew that the attack now wasn't just composed of ki, but he could swear something else had felt a little off about it.

_That wasn't all ki I just used. But what else could it be?_ He then swept his hands out in a wave, creating a large gust of air to extinguish the fire he created. "I hope they don't mind all of this." Radditz said to himself, referring to the people of Canton who had people living out somewhat close to these fields.

Teresa had soon called her energy clone over, and Dan and Radditz watched as both clipped each other on the shoulder as if like a kind of link, causing the clone to revert to a normal looking ki ball, which Teresa then shot to the ground below, making a moderate sized crater.

"What the hell is that?" Radditz asked her, "You created some kind of partner from energy. I've heard of body duplication attacks before, but not living ki."

"I figured out something from watching an episode of that Dragonball you seem to have come from." Teresa replied, "One of the characters apparently had the ability to breath out living ki vapors that turned into wispy ghosts." "Wait... the Kamikaze Ghost Attack."

Dan realized what she had meant, "That's something I've only see a fusion do before."

"Well I figured if they could do it, that others could do it. I had to fire several shots though in order to get enough energy expelled to form the clone properly. But once done, it seems to work." she looked over at a little of the damage she and her clone had caused.

Dan then looked to Radditz, "And how about you? What was that fiery blast all about? As I recall, Ki never burns directly or gives off fire."

Radditz chuckled, "I think I realize that now, I guess that fire came from something else, but I have no idea what it was myself. I just knew something felt off about the Atomic Ray." he then looked to both of them, "I think we should get back down to training. Teresa, you think you can teach us that little spirit cloning blast somehow?"

Teresa sighed, "I could try, but It's hard enough to explain to you. You might not be able to learn it, nor Dan."

"Whatever can be done of this, let's get on with this session." Dan spoke up to his training teacher.

"Prepare yourselves, because I think it's time you two learned how to fire more higher-end blasts. It's too bad you two aren't Saiya-jins, or else you'd probably be able to give Alex's group a run for their money soon. They're currently on training to hold SSJ for a long period of time." he explained. After that, the three Misfits, proceeded back to the fields to start training again.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 11:04am; Canton, Ohio)

At the abandoned stadium in Northwest Canton, Alex and Jason were somewhat working together and tandem against Vernon. All three of them were at Super Saiya-jin level, darting around each other, trying to get more of a true feel for how to fight in the transformed state. This was something Goku, Piccolo, #17 and Vegeta had been eager to get the three of them to do for a while. Now they could keep their SSJ for a long enough period at a time to start training for real. Additionally, they also were wearing level 4 weighted clothing, making them a bit slow of foot as they all sparred. Alex jumped up at Vernon, firing two blasts up at him as he flew upwards.

Vernon had to worry about dodging both him, and also Jason coming in at him from above, also shooting a small Soukidan. Vernon zanzokened and let both Alex and Jason's blasts hit and cancel each other out, and he reappeared above Jason, and swung his leg into Jason's back, knocking him towards, the ground, while he quick darted in and tried to punch Alex in the stomach. Luckily Alex had experienced this enough and dodged to his side, and managed to axehandle him downwards as well.

He landed quickly, and looked to Jason, "Let's both get him!" he called. Jason and Vernon dodged at different angles, and Alex had soon dodged Jason's swinging kick from the side, and he barely managed to see Vernon appear above him, and ducked fast enough, causing Vernon to hit Jason on the head a second time.

"Come on, you two are slow!" Alex taunted from above, although a sight bit arrogantly.

"Hah, we're only toying with you, Alex!" Jason said, as he jumped up quickly, faster than Alex could track, and quickly smashed into him, butt first, plowing both of them through the air, and then causing them to crash into the ground, leaving an indent with both crashed. Jason jumped back off of him, and Vernon dashed over and grabbed Alex, and threw up high up into the air, where he cupped his hands and fired a kamehameha up which smashed into him.

Alex growled, struggling to recover from Jason's strange attack, in order to pull himself from being carried by the Kamehameha, before he smashed into a wall or another solid object. Screaming out, he formed a ki flare which shoved Vernon's blast away from him long enough to break free. He soon reappeared behind Jason, and shot his own Kamehameha and hit Jason square in the back and sent him plowing into a set of seats and exploded. Jason emerged slightly scorched, but Vernon didn't let that bother him, as he jumped up into the air and aimed down at Alex, with one arm outstretched into a flat palm.

Vegeta growled at him, "Great, now he's trying to do my Big Bang Attack!" Vernon's shot fired down true, but Alex managed to smack it aside, and Jason had to put up his arms to block the Big Bang.

Piccolo looked over to Vegeta, "Don't be so angry, he learned how to do a Masenko in less than 2 days. I'm surprised he didn't try a Big Bang Attack before this." Piccolo stated.

"Come Piccolo, why don't we both spar a little. It's always us training them, or some other stupid thing. Let's actually get ourselves stronger for once." #17 was getting impatient.

Piccolo looked to him ands smirked, "Heh. It's been a while since I actually shed these annoying weights." Piccolo said as he took off his weighted clothing, and tossed it to the ground nearby. The Namekian and cyborg flew up and out of the stadium and landed outside the walls. Piccolo quickly charged up his ki as #17 let loose roughly 20 blasts in rapid succession at the Namekian.

Piccolo formed all of his energy into a barrier which absorbed each blast as quickly as it came. Piccolo suddenly vanished and reappeared behind #17 and swung a large kick to his legs, tripping the cyborg and forcing him to flip backwards a few times to prevent from falling on his face.

#17 grumbled, "All right, time to turn up the heat!" he growled, charging his energy and flying forward at Piccolo. Piccolo prepared to shoot a large blast to intercept #17, but he swerved around the incoming shot, and then turned to Piccolo's side and kicked him them, sending him hurtling back about 10 feet.

Piccolo smirked, "So that's how you want to play it." He said, putting two fingers to his forehead, indicating he was charging his Makankosoppo beam. #17 jumped back quickly as Piccolo released the corkscrew-like beam at him, however Piccolo began to guide the shot upward at his partner.

#17 quickly began to dodge around, a few times just barely avoiding getting hammered by the beam. After about 20 seconds of messing around, #17 ignited his specialty ki barrier, and the Makankosoppo impacted and dissipated on the barrier.

Piccolo let up, as #17 lowered to the ground, "Just remember #17, just is only for kicks. I'd probably already have killed you by now if we had still be enemies.

#17 grumbled, but tried to keep his cool, "Don't be so sure you'd win perfectly. Even now I still have natural speed than you have. You're tall and strong, but I'm slim and quick."

"But I also have the skill too in order to win." Piccolo replied.

"Sure, whatever you say there, Piccolo. Let's go back and check on the munchkins for a second." he said, sensing out to find Alex, Jason and Vernon were still going at it, and now he sensed Goku, Vegeta and Buu's powerlevels had elevated. Piccolo had sensed all of this too.

"Looks like Goku, Vegeta and Buu are getting just as restless as we are." Piccolo said, as they flew back up and re-entered the stadium from above.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 1:32pm; Canton, Ohio)

By some freak act of luck, Virgil had finally managed to catch Devin after about 3 or four hours of running around. Now Devin had decided to up the ante a lot. He had thrown Virgil over a level 3 set of training clothes, and then after Virgil had gotten into that getup, he then opened up the briefcase he had brought with him, and pulled out a large, mallet sized hammer, a special hammer were the handle was light, but the main weight was extremely heavy. He held it up, even him having a short amount of trouble, and tossed it over near Virgil.

"Virgil, now you need to chase me wearing those weights, and you need to hit me with that hammer now. It won't be as easy as you might think though. The weight is super heavy!" Devin explained, as Virgil struggled to just lift the end of the hammer off the ground.

Virgil finally managed to pull the weight up off the ground, "So I have to hit you with this? You know this'll really hurt if I manage to hit you." Virgil stated.

"Which is exactly why I'm going to try to dodge you as much as I can." Devin replied, knowing Virgil was right. If he swung that into one of them just right, it could do a good deal of damage even to Steve or Dwayne.

Clint ran over and landed nearby, "Hey, Devin. It's time we did this. You ready?" he asked Devin, reminding them of this spar.

Devin then had an idea, "You know, I think we'll make this interactive. I'll still spar you Clint, but Virgil will also be in on this, trying to hit either of us with the hammer while we spar with each other."

"That seems quite interesting." Clint replied, dropping into a stance, as Devin did the same.

"Virgil, smash the hammer on the ground to lead us off." Clint suggested. Virgil gave the best heave he could, and slammed a large dent into the ground, shaking it with a 1.1 tremor, and watched as Devin and Clint ran at each other as he tried to pick the hammer of the ground.

Devin quickly dodged to the side before Clint could get near, and shot a short volley of ki shots at Clint. Clint smacked two away, blocked 2 more, and dodged the last three as he formed a Soukidan and tossed it at Devin. Devin knew he would probably try to fake him out with it. He stood his ground, and he predicted correctly as Clint suddenly made the ball fly upwards, and then around from behind. Devin jumped forward at Clint, and swung his leg, barely clipping Clint's ankle as the other Misfit jumped to dodge. However, Devin had wisely managed to trick Clint into aiming the ball in an upward angle. Clint growled as he suddenly got smacked in the side by his own attack and almost knocked out of the air.

However Devin capitalized and jump kicked him back to the road, but Clint had managed to correct his landing to avoid serious damage. Clint suddenly dodged to the side as Virgil attempted to swing his hammer down on him. Knowing Virgil couldn't be directly attacked in this spar, he figured maybe he could use the outside Misfit against Devin.

_At least he's not rushing into this._ he thought sternly, as he darted aside a few more inches to discourage Virgil from making a swing with the large hammer he had.

Clint looked over at Devin and bent down and placed his fists onto the ground, and then jumped forward in a fast charge at Devin. Devin prepared to dodge, but Clint suddenly jumped up, flipping around fast as he gained altitude. He cupped his hands to the side as he flipped, hoping Devin wouldn't expect it, and flipped back to try to hit him from behind. Devin saw Clint's incoming charge and jumped to the side, but Clint smirked, as he shot a medium Kamehameha from his hands while still spinning in the air. Devin was totally caught off guard as the blast slammed into his left thigh and caused him to flip over and land on his face. He saw Virgil moving in at Devin, but Devin saw the larger Misfit heading his way, and used a surge of ki to propel himself back before Virgil made a missed swing into the ground where he had been laying.

However Clint had already appeared behind, him, and gave him a good kick in the back, sending him flying forward, but Devin turned it into a front flip by catching the ground with his hands and shot a large ki shot that Clint had not been expecting. He dodged mostly, but the shot still grazed his cheek, spinning him a few degrees, long enough for Devin to fire three more blasts that hit their mark against Clint's back, left shoulder and the back of his head. Clint was sent flying up into the air, as Virgil finally picked his hammer back out of the ground, and went in to hit Devin. Devin ducked aside and flipped out of Virgil's path, but Virgil did not take a full swing and had recovered quicker than expected, now back on Devin's tail. Clint noticed this and raised his hands into the air, and formed a large-strength Soukidan while Virgil had been distracting Devin.

"Hey hotshot! Dodge this one!" he called down as he threw the Soukidan at high speeds. Devin saw it and barely managed to pull a complicated dodging maneuver that allowed him to dodge both the Soukidan and then Virgil's next attempted swing. However he had only fully cleared Virgil, and the high-speed Soukidan of Clint's was still heading his way, having made a turn back towards him. Devin managed to dodge its' second pass by the skin of his teeth, but he had not seen the second, weaker Soukidan Clint had just tossed, which smacked him on the chin, and sent him off his intended course. He was left vulnerable to the second, stronger blast that had turned back towards him. Devin growled, not wanting to be defeated so easily, and shouted loudly as he felt a temporary boost of strength that both allowed him to dodge backwards and then axehandle the other wise battle-ending Soukidan into the ground like spiking a volleyball. Clint had noticed a short black aura that had formed around Devin when he did this, and realized he must've had a boost of desperation.

_He probably can't pull another move like that again_, and prepared to attack, but he stopped, as Virgil had managed to get in behind, and took another swung at Devin, which he managed to dodge.

However he could tell whatever burst of strength Devin had done had weakened him. He saw Devin had dodged back from Virgil, but Devin had forgotten Clint was right in his new path. Clint too advantage of this, and axehandled Devin one more time, sending up to the ground, a little roughed up looking. Devin grumbled, as he slowly pulled himself up.

"I'm done. I don't know what happened, but I did some miracle shot, and then it wore the fuck outta me." he said.

Clint called Virgil to try to swing at him instead of Devin, as he called to Devin, "Well, that wasn't too bad. At least you deflected a high-level Soukidan, even if only once." Clint had then dodged away as Virgil had missed his next swing.

"Virgil, you can't just come at us without a plan that way. You're using the same level clothing as us, and that heavy mallet only makes a frontal assault harder." Clint said, "You saw how Devin and I had to keep dodging around and trying to fake the other out."

"I know, I know Clint! But I'm not exactly fast enough that any plan's really gonna work at this point. I'm just trying to get a lucky hit." Virgil grumbled angrily.

"Well luck is random, not constant." Devin said, as he had managed to get to his feet, "You're not going to get much more better at this rate."

Clint looked to Devin, "What're you doing?" Devin looked back, and pulled out a half sensu bean he had gotten from Goku, and chomped it down.

"Nevermind." Clint replied. Devin had healed enough now that he could continue training, but he decided lifting weights would do well for now. Clint could train Virgil for a while. It was what he got for winning the battle, Devin smirked to himself.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 3:43pm; Canton, Ohio)

Paula wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She had completed the 125 laps needed for the day with her 4x Gravity. Nina had decided when she finished that she was probably going to go to 7x gravity the next day, and perhaps even bring in some weighted clothing. Paula had been told she should go and get weights of her own if she could find them. Paula had then thought about something. She had realized all of the other groups training had weighted clothing, but they didn't have the gravity training. She wondered if there was a way Nina could use her powers to accelerate their training as well. However she also had a nagging feeling it wouldn't work out for whatever reason.

Regardless, when Nina had finished up her laps about 30 minutes later, Paula had asked, "Hey Nina, you can do this gravity thing on anyone, right?"

Nina panted heavily, but still letting the 4x gravity affect her, so she wouldn't totally wimp out, she then caught her breath and replied, "Yeah, I can do it to a set number of people at once. I think as many as 3 or 4. However my range is somewhat limited. At best it would be about three-fourths of a mile. Also, while I don't have to concentrate endlessly to keep the barrier, I think only I can remove the auras."

"Would you be able to do it to any of the others if you wanted to?" Paula asked.

"Well, yes. I think I could even use it on Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo or Buu. But I don't think what I know how to do would really affect them. I found out from Radditz that Goku and Vegeta have experience in 400 times or more gravity, definitely way better than any of us."

"Still, that leaves like Clint, Alex and the rest of those guys." Paula said.

Nina looked down, "I'm not sure if they deserve it yet." she said, sounding a slight bit irritated.

"Huh? Why? They're training hard too, aren't they?" Paula asked back.

"Paula, I'll be honest with you. As far as I've known many of those guys. Few of them have truly made any real efforts at doing anything for keeps. The only person I can truly credit is Dusty and his determination to be a cook, but the rest of them... I don't think they're either ready to handle it yet, or that they honestly deserve it yet. Besides, I've already told too many people about our training. I accidentally blurted it out to Goku the other night when we were returning from the Red Dog, and I ended up admitting it to Radditz, as I realized with him around, there was little chance of keeping it from him for long. Both of them agreed not to tell the others, but I want to keep our training as private as possible from the others."

Paula was confused, "Why do you want to keep this all so secretive anyways?"

Nina sat down next to her and then frowned sadly, "Paula, it's no surprise we're both female. All the others are male, and I've noticed in both my world and this one that men have much pride, and many have an allusion women aren't good at taking care of themselves. Alex even admitted to me one time he didn't want to ever fight a woman. I know he feels like it's a code of honor, because he told me it was how he was raised, but I see it as a kind of insult in general." Paula looked at her, beginning to understand just a little as Nina continued talking, "I don't totally blame Alex or the rest of them for it, but I've seen the things on Dragonball, the show I mean. If the show is any indication of Goku and his gang's real past, then only one female ever truly fought for any coherent amount of time, and that would be #17's sister #18, and even then she was pushed further into the background after a short time. It's 99 male vs. male on that show, and that mindset will probably grow on Alex's gang the more and more they train."

"You're worried if they find out, they'll try to stop us either out of pride or worry of our safety." Paula cut in.

"Yes, that's exactly why. But that's not the only reason I don't think I'm ready to give them the gravity training." Nina replied.

"What was the other reason?" Paula then asked.

"Remember when I went berserko on Jackson on the 11th?" Nina asked Paula, and she nodded. Nina continued, "Well, if you recall, I was bellowing my head off at him because he had no clue of the hell had I had to go through. I had to basically take care of myself since I was born. My parents weren't evil mean people or anything like that, but it was because of a bad omen concerning the color of my wings. It was said one who was born with the black wings would bring ruin to the kingdom of Windia, where I was born. When I was born, people were going nuts. My own parents had to make a decision to either kill me then, or send me into exile to take care of myself."

"They sent you away for you to try to survive, didn't they?" Paula then realized.

"Yes, but I had many hardships, and I had my own terrible battles. I fear some even made a few of the villains from Goku's past possibly seem weak in will by comparison. Remember St. Evans? He was horribly powerful. I even think I was actually killed for a short time during the fight with him. However my memory is fuzzy, and my other friends who fought Evans alongside me said I never died." Nina continued.

"Wait, is this 'Katt' person one of your friends?" Paula cut in, remembering hearing Nina whisper that name before.

"Yes. Katt is of another unique race known as the Woren, and while with the right clothing she could fit in better with the student body than I could and doesn't have the telltale wings, she has other qualities that would make Jackson target her similarly. The main difference between the two of us is our personalities. That rage I had at Jackson the other day was the first time I ever really retaliated against him in a serious manner. If it had been Katt and not me, Jackson may well have been already killed or at least hospitalized 3 or 4 times. She does not take crap from people, and she angers easily, especially when people get on her case about being a freak. She's also a lot faster and stronger than me physically. You see, most of the others don't really know it yet, but I wield what people on this planet call magic. Although it's called the same on my world, this world had never truly believed in it prior to the merger. I'm sure many of them still don't even now, but I know I can use it. Me shrinking Alex and Vernon a few times, like I mentioned, and even these gravity auras, they're all examples of magic." Nina explained.

"I understand. I have something of my own that's kinda like that." Paula replied.

Nina looked at her with widened eyes, but then she looked at her normal, "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. You seem to have much experience of your own like me. I saw it in your eyes in our hotel room at in Tokyo. You seemed a bit bothered by something, and it looked as if you'd gone through your own ordeals."

Paula looked down, "You're right. I've had to fight my own share of nasty enemies. Not just Piccolo's father, as I might have said before, but someone far far far worse."

Nina looked interested now, "Surely it couldn't have been as bad as Evans was." she challenged back.

"I'm pretty confident this guy was the highest definition of evil incarnate. Maybe his power didn't destroy too many as I knew of, but had he gotten the chance to complete his mission, the Earth as I knew it would've been royally screwed."

"What was his name?"

"Its' name was Giygas1, and he was basically, as one of our..." she then stopped and saw Nina laughing, "What's so funny!" she grumbled.

"Giygas? That sounds so goofy for an ultimate evil's name. Hehehe..." Nina chuckled.

"Goofy sounding or not, his power was none but serious. The guy was virtually indestructible, and not in a "ungodly-defense" way, but in the fact that no attack we made could contact and even hit him. You could say he evolved beyond anything thought possible by science. No form of physical, mental, or spiritual attack could even tickle him." Paula explained, not impressed with Nina acting lightly.

"If he's that unkillable, how did you survive him?" Nina asked.

"He wasn't unkillable, just nigh-unkillable. No conventional method could even harm him. If it did look like you hit him, he only did it to mess with your head. He had also even destroyed his own mind before we reached him. It was like being locked inside 60,000 or more insane asylums. No, his death, if you even want to call it that, came because of divine intervention. Me and my three friends alone couldn't do a thing to beat Giygas. We had to bring the collective prayers and positive energy of the planet together to 'harm' him. Being a being of evil, no real 'attack' could harm him, so a kind of kindness was what finally killed him. I know it sounds like a rather wimpy way for someone like him to die, but we can't even be sure he's completely dead. He's basically become the definition of evil itself.2" Paula replied.

"Basically one of those 'as long as evil exists, I will always exist' kinda guys?" Nina cut in.

"Exactly. For all I know, I might have to meet him again some time in my life, or it might be thousands of years after I die before he becomes such a threat again. I might not have done too much physical training, but my PK powers have grown stronger since after his death." Paula said to her.

"PK?" Nina asked in confusion.

"Some in my world also call it 'PSI', or some other goofy sounding name. It's a short name for Psychokenesis, but basically think of normal telepathy, telekinesis and all that psychic stuff, and then think of using that same power to literally create and destroy, to form energy, and to destroy it. It's nothing like Ki is, having now gotten an understanding of Ki from Goku's gang." Paula explained.

"Wow, you and I really are kindred spirits." Nina looked on, shocked that Paula had spilled all of this out to her.

Paula looked back, "Is the real reason you don't want to help train the others because you think they've not yet proven themselves ready, like we might have?" she then asked, looking at Nina for an honest answer.

"Yes, that is another reason. But the other reason is because I believe they will get it once they've proven to themselves they can do it. You notice how you and I never really got too much real fight training from Goku or any of the Z-senshi with us? The only thing we learned from him was how to control our ki, but even then, I ran off before I learned how to mask it or sense it, which you ended up teaching to me for him. You see, I think they have to earn most of this stuff on their own, and so do we. Sure we could just train with Goku's gang. We're the next strongest right now under Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17 and Buu, but then it wouldn't feel like we made as much of an effort, because at least Goku and maybe Buu would probably baby us too much. I guess I also want to know how well we can stand up to this stuff without their input." Nina explained.

"I can see that, but I personally don't think there's a problem with helping them myself." Paula replied.

"Well, if you can learn how to alter the gravity sometime, you can use it on them if you want to train them, but until I feel they're truly ready, I say we let them handle their own training. If we came in, their pride might also take it as us trying to 'baby' them, and most men don't like having to have a woman take care of them in that way." Nina replied.

"I guess I can understand it that way." Paula sighed in disappointment.

"Now, let's get off that subject. I think we're both ready to train a bit more. I think we should also go home with the gravity on us like this too, and try to do our normal stuff with it on." Nina then replied.

"I thought you said you could only do it within three-fourths of a mile?" Paula was confused.

"I'm talking about the actual process of either creating or dispelling the fields. The fields themselves will last until I dispel it, or until someone else with similar magic or something along that line goes to remove it." Nina said, a bit embarrassed she didn't say that beforehand. Both women soon took to the nearby trees, and picked up some rocks, to throw at each other for dodging practice.

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 7:53pm; Canton, Ohio)

Later that night, Radditz had finally returned home from his session with Dan and Teresa, and also from a search through a nearby fast-food restaurant. He had been able to form and fire off his Atomic Ray two more times during that earlier training session, but for some reason after two successful uses that he could no longer create the fiery property of the blast, making any other attempts failures. Maybe he just needed to rest before he tried it again. He also realized that the place, a McDonalds restaurant he had examined along highway 77, would make a decent place to start off. A couple of people already working there had actually recognized him from the show, and they had said that if he were allowed to work with them that he might be a good helper in cooking.

The manager had also realized of his strength after he had picked up and moved a refrigerator to a new location, a task that would've worn out several other workers. The manager had told him that he would best be needed during the later hours, a shift of around 4pm to 10pm. Radditz accepted this proposal, even though he realized it would cut down on his training with Teresa and Dan. He would have to call those two and tell them the news. First he would call up his brother and Vegeta to tell them the news. He picked up the phone and dialed the number to their house.

The phone clicked and Radditz heard Vegeta speak up, "Yes?"

"Vegeta, it's me." Radditz spoke back

"Ah, Radditz. What's prompts this little call?" Vegeta asked.

"I wanted to let you know that I've found a part-time job." Radditz broke the news.

"What? You mean as in like a 'human'-type job?" Vegeta said, a bit surprised, although Radditz noticed a lack of anger.

"Yeah, afraid so, but it's because I don't know how long these guys' money will last. I mean, you told us your mate, Bulma was it?" Radditz asked.

"Yes, go on..." Vegeta cut in. "Anyways, you told me that she was a source of the money to build a lot of the things you train with and all. We don't have her support now though, you know."

"I get it, I get it." Vegeta grumbled, "You want to actually do something to support our little sessions with these younger clowns. I commend your efforts, but I don't think a part time job will simply cut it Radditz."

Vegeta replied. "I know, but I can't just totally throw Teresa or Dan out of the loop either. Those two, especially Teresa, seem to depend on me to teach them." Radditz replied.

He then heard a sigh from Vegeta, "If it comes down to no other choice, I suppose Kakarott, the Namek, Buu, the Cyborg and I could take them in, or they could just go back to Dusty's group. Whichever they want. Just be sure you know what you're doing Radditz."

Radditz spoke back, "I'll... think about it. Could you tell Kakarott this news? I'm sure he'll want to know. I know he'll probably stop by and interrupt me several times to see me and eat, but..."

"Wait, exactly where is this job at?" Vegeta interrupted, suddenly interested.

"It's at a McDonalds along highway 77, and Faircrest Ave. It's also merged with a gas station called Marathon. They hired me after I took a look around and moved of their refrigerators for them. I think my strength got the manager's attention. Also, it seems a few of the students from our little friends' school also work there and recognized me both from the other day and that odd Dragonball Z show about us." Radditz replied.

Vegeta grumbled, again that show was mentioned to him.

It was only then he realized something, "Well, it seems to be actually close to where we all are, especially your training spot."

"Yeah, that was one reason I picked it." Radditz said.

"Alright, I'll give your clown brother your message. Talk to you later Radditz." Vegeta said before Radditz heard the click that ended the phone call.

Radditz sighed to himself, also noticed Nina wasn't home just yet, and figured she was just training late, he decided to back down to the basement to rest his thoughts off. He had a lot to do the next day...

(September 13, 2001 A.D.; 11:58pm; Canton, Ohio)

A loud scream was heard into the night, a scream that only very few would ever perceive to be at all familiar to them. The scream was emitting from a neighborhood only slightly west of Canton South High School itself. The scream's source was from one figure in his backyard, with a intense, flaring aura of golden ki, indicating the person was probably a Super Saiya-jin. The person was growling, although not as much with unfocused rage as he was with a clear mind for havoc. He kept thinking to the events on what now many people were calling "9-11", the nickname for the terrorist attacks in Manhattan and Washington D.C. He was using this anger and carefully channeling it through his body, as to not accidentally bulk himself up and mess up the process.

As he focused the attack at the school through his mind, thinking of how so many could've died, and how he had been basically powerless to stop the destruction. He had been wanting to just break away from the school and blow away anyone who was with Al-queda that day. But now he was finally going to get the opportunity to channel his anger right.

"DAAAMMMNNN THEEEEMMM!" he growled out with the volume of an airliner as his hair had gone from looking it was standing up somewhat on end to standing up almost perfectly vertical, and a surge of electricity began to form around the figure's body. His muscles had tensed up and looked tightened, but they had NOT bulked up like he remembered before.

The figure smiled, almost in a peaceful way, and then his smile turned to a frown, "AT LAST I HAVE DONE IT. IT WILL SOON BE TIME FOR REVENGE ON THOSE ASSHOLES."

As he calmed down, the ki flare became more controlled, almost a perfect representation of a flame. Jason Scott Changet looked up at the stars. He had finally attained Super Saiya-jin 2. He didn't even care right then and there he had done it before Alex or Vernon, because his campaign was not for his own self gain right now. It was to avenge the 3,000 and probably more lives that had been lost on '9-11'. After holding SSJ2 for roughly 10 full minutes, Jason powered down, but not fully to base, but back to normal SSJ1.

He had decided he was going to sleep over this night as a normal Super Saiya-jin. He figured Alex and Vernon were probably going to think on doing this soon, if they hadn't done so already, but he didn't care, as he walked back into his house, the calmness radiating off of him a creepy, eerie contrast to his mood only 10 to 15 minutes ago...

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 5:35am; Canton, Ohio)

The next morning, Goku and Vegeta had met back up with Piccolo, #17, Mr. Buu, Alex, Jason and Vernon in front of their house. They were ready for another day of some training. Although at Goku's discretion, they decided that they would take a break off to go visit Radditz later on at McDonalds and cut their training a couple of hours short. Goku had been rather interested to hear from Vegeta about the fact that Radditz had decided to even get a job, but at least he had gotten one somewhat close to all of them over at highway 77. It was less than a mile away from Alex's house and their own. However now he was focused on a new objective. He was now curious to try to get another gauge on Alex, Jason and Vernon's powerlevels.

"Hey you three, before we go over to the stadium to spar again, I'd like you all to power up to your best. I want to see how much you all changed from the last time."

Alex, Jason and Vernon had no objections, and all three immediately released their power and transformed into the Super Saiya-jin level. However, despite his new found powers, Jason wanted to try to keep from having to use Super Saiya-jin 2 in front of them. He knew Alex would probably get extremely jealous. Vernon would probably be a bit annoyed at first, but he would probably shrug it off and use it as motivation to reach the level himself. However while Goku had scanned Alex, Vernon and Jason's powerlevels, he sensed something off about Jason's. Not being able to either sense or mask his own ki, Jason's ki was fluctuating slightly, not really peaking at any point, making Goku suspicious.

"Hey Jason, something feels off about your powerlevel. It's not staying in any solid place. It keeps rising and lowering slightly back and forth. Are you trying to hold something back?" Goku then put on a rarely used serious face at Jason.

Jason gulped mentally, _Shit! He knows! I'm sure of it! He probably sensed me ascend last night!_

Goku however had picked up just enough of that thought with his limited telepathic abilities, and his eyes went wide and he did a double take, _HE ASCENDED! Now that I think of it, I did sense a strange powerup around midnight last night!_

Vegeta saw Goku's expression, "Kakarott, what happened!"

"It's Jason's powerlevel. He's holding back on us." Goku cleanly admitted, causing Vernon and Alex to turn their heads to him as Jason sweated bullets.

It was then when Alex had realized it. "NO. No no no no! No! You didn't! You reached it first! No! How could you have done it so fast! You were struggling the last couple of days just to hold your normal SSJ!" he screamed. Vernon's eyes widened, as Jason gave in, and closed his eyes, igniting the rest of the power he had been holding back, and transforming to Super Saiya-jin 2 for the second time.

"HE'S A SUPER SAIYA-JIN 2!" Vegeta had also almost lost his jaw on the ground, "HOW DID HE GET THERE SO FAST!" Piccolo and #17 had also almost done a double-take at this declaration.

"Jason, how the hell did you manage it!" Piccolo asked, honestly wanting to know.

"It was my anger at Al-queda. They destroyed thousands of lives as we all know, but it was when I finally started to reflect on what they almost did to us, and how helpless I was to stop any of it. That and I was trying to do what Goku and Gohan did before the Cell Games when I transformed." Jason explained.

"You were trying to use Super Saiya-jin as a base?" Goku asked, "I understand a little now. Did it work at all other than your transformation?"

"I did managed to sleep the whole night transformed, so I guess I'm finally getting my anger in control properly." Jason admitted.

Alex gaped at him, "Well, I guess I have to throw my hat off, if I had one, to you. But don't think I'll let this go unanswered. I will also go Super Saiya-jin 2 too!"

Vernon smirked, "Same here you two. I'm not about to let you or Jason leave me in the dust."

"You won't make it the way I did with attitudes like that." Jason said sternly, making his two friends look at him blankly, "I transformed because of Al-queda only, not because of competition with you. Think of how Vegeta couldn't get Super Saiya-jin for some time because he was so concerned with surpassing Goku. Once he finally stopped caring and got angry with himself, he finally transformed." Vegeta sulked at that comment, since Jason's words were completely true.

Vegeta remembered how stupid he had felt once he had finally transformed for the first time that it was because he couldn't admit anger at himself instead of another, "Jason's completely correct you two. You're not going to just reach Super Saiya-jin 2 on will of competition alone. Gohan took severe anger to finally transform when he fought Cell, and Al-queda while not on the same level in my own opinion, was probably like Jason's version of the Cell ordeal."

Alex thought deeply to himself, "I think I understand now. I think now that I know, maybe I can actually bring forth the proper anger. Goku, Vegeta? Do you think you could give Vernon and I some time today to try to ascend?"

Vegeta sighed to himself, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have three young Super Saiya-jin 2s around aside from myself. Wait! Just how can it be possible for Jason to reach Super Saiya-jin 2 at his low base powerlevel anyways? None of you are over 30,000 at base last I checked."

"Maybe that's another example of what Dusty, The Rock and Austin were saying when they mentioned of rules changing. Maybe reaching Super Saiya-jin doesn't have all of the original requirements anymore, or maybe its something else." #17 said out loud, although it was more directed at himself.

"Alright then. Anyways, I think it's time we all headed off to the stadium. I wasn't going to mention this before hand, but I guess most of our normal training will be called off today. We're going to stop early today anyways. We'll give Alex and Vernon a chance to ascend. Maybe you people really will prove to be our prize students soon." Goku said, and smiled at the three of them, although Jason could swear Goku was smiling specifically at him.

Jason had done what many would have considered to never to be thinkable by transforming to a Super Saiya-jin 2 with such a low powerlevel. The eight Misfits took to the air and flew off to reach the stadium, as they were eager to see Alex and Vernon ascend. Somehow Vegeta had a gut feeling they too would not be too far behind Jason.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 6:20am; Canton, Ohio)

At Devin's vacant lot, Devin and Clint had both sensed Jason's powering up as well.

"Holy Shit!" Clint cried out, "Jason's powerlevel just skyrocketed!"

Devin looked over at him, "How the hell did you know that!" Devin had recalled Clint had never taken time to learn how to sense ki.

"Oh, I sensed his ki. It's not that hard considering how close he was to us earlier."

"Wait, you CAN sense ki! I could've sworn you flew off in a giddy mess back when we were all supposed to be taught." Devin said.

Clint sweatdropped, "Yeah, I realized I messed up back there, but I figured out how to sense ki by myself, and I'm even in the process of slowly learning how to mask it."

"What the h... dammit! I thought I'd still have some advantage over you by now!" Devin grumbled.

"Well, you can mask your ki, right?" Clint asked.

Devin realized, "Yeah, I guess that's true. But still, Damn. Jason must've over pumped his body again."

"No... I don't think Jason messed up this time." Clint explained, "His ki actually felt calm, albiet a little nervous at the time. I also sensed something odd last night too, it might have been Jason, but I can't be too sure."

"Wait wait wait! You're telling me Jason might have..."

"Ascended.." Clint finished Devin's sentence, "Yes, I think he hit Super Saiya-jin 2. And that means I must try to do the same eventually." Clint said to himself.

"God dammit! I wish I could transform too you know!" Devin grumbled.

"Yes, this is only the fifth time we've discussed this Devin." Clint said a bit sarcastically.

"I mean it! You're the only one of us here who can transform. I'm surprised you agreed to train with US instead of them!" Devin growled back.

"Because I still have faith that I'm not really a Saiya-jin Devin, and the fact is that you guys are closer to my own level at base anyways." Clint explained. Then the two of them looked over as Virgil soon arrived.

"Hup to fatty! Your training must continue if you ever want to kick those Al-queda bastards' asses!" Devin called up to get Virgil riled up.

Virgil landed and flipped Devin the bird, "Yeah yeah, just gimme the weights and the hammer."

"Eagar to poop yourself out again, huh?" Devin taunted.

"I'll hit you with that thing soon enough Devin. And trust me, it's not going to be pretty!" Virgil growled, as Devin handed him his level 3 training cloths and his mallet. Virgil went back and changed, and then came out, appearing to hold the hammer a bit better today than before.

"At least he's improving at all." Clint stated to himself, as he saw Devin slip into his level 3 training clothes, and started to run around the lot, with the hammer wielding Virgil on his tail.

Meanwhile, Dwayne was now running around, wearing a new level 4 set of training clothes, having felt he had outgrown the level 3 set. Level 1 training clothes were usually somewhere between 200 to 450 lbs total. Level 2 clothing was usually around 450 to 850 lbs. Level 3 clothing, like most of the others had been using prior to this point, weighed around 850 to 1300 lbs. Dwayne's level 4 clothing was around 1600 to 1750 lbs, closing in on a total of one ton of weight distribution3. Steve had also gone with his partner's idea, not wanting to let his wrestling partner and good friend leave him in the dust.

Both of them were also taking the time to run laps, and shoot of medium-level blasts every once in a awhile. Sometimes the two would also shoot a blast towards each other at the same time. Usually both blasts negated each other about evenly as they met half way.

"Rock! How will do you think we're doing, compared to Alex, Vernon and Jason's little gang?" Steve asked as he ran around the perimeter of the lot, not having thought too much about those three in a few days.

Dwayne also thought to himself as he ran, "I don't think they've thought about level 4 yet, but I do think they complained once or twice about that gravity training Goku and Vegeta supposedly use to make themselves stronger on their show."

"Yeah, kinda sucks we don't got that ourselves. You know just much faster we could all probably train if we had those gravity rooms?" Steve replied.

"Well, the ones on the show are only so big, nowhere the size of this lot. I think we could fit like 25 to 30 of them in this place. But each could only hold two, or at best 3 people, and that would limit our contact with each other." Dwayne had thought out loud. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, realizing that keeping contact with one another during the training was a major factor in strength growth.

Steve and Dwayne suddenly motioned at each other with their facial expressions, and both stopped briefly, each letting out a medium-large ki ball towards the other, and then started running again. The two ki balls collided half way, and as before, they struggled for a few seconds before both simply exploded as their energies simultaneously petered out.

Nearby, Dusty and Heero were now actually sparring with one another, both wearing level 3 training clothes. Although Dusty had a somewhat higher powerlevel than Heero, the former Gundam Pilot showed that his natural speed had been superior, and that his own battle experience netted him some fancy dodging and attacking abilities, which allowed their battle to keep relatively even, much to Dusty's interest. After barely dodging one of Heero's kicks, Dusty swung his fist in an uppercut, but missed Heero directly, leaving him open to get kicked in the side and he had to roll into a side flip to minimize the damage of the kick, and shot a small kamehameha at Heero, hoping to make him dodge, and it had apparently worked, and Dusty zanzokened behind Heero and managed to connect with a frontal kick to his upper-left shoulder, sending the Gundam pilot spinning forward, but Heero had surprisingly timed a spin right and fired off a fast blast that slammed Dusty in the forehead, knocking him out of the air, but not bad enough that Dusty crashed.

Heero so corrected himself, and stared at Dusty, "You know, I wonder how Dan's own training is going. He's probably gotten stronger than both of us by now." Dusty knew Heero had learned how to sense ki, and that he himself could not yet.

He had been trying to get Devin to teach him, but Devin told him that he could wait for some time, or defeat him in a spar before Devin would teach him masking and sensing himself. Although he noticed from Clint and Devin's conversation earlier that Clint learned how to sense ki on this own. Maybe he could help Dusty learn it, or at least point him in the right direction. Dusty then soon thought to the subject of Heero's comment: Dan.

Dusty had been able to talk to Dan a few times since the 11th. Dan had gotten better, but he also mentioned that Radditz had called him the other night about his new part-time job at McDonalds. In fact, Dusty was planning to try to call off training a bit earlier so they could meet with Radditz there.

He then thought to himself about trying to ask Dan, Teresa and Radditz to merge their training groups together. It would make the matter a bit less annoying to keep track of everyone. Dusty have even earlier thought of merging back with Alex's group, but he was worried he or one of the others could accidentally become the victim of a misplaced blast from one of the Z-senshi themselves. He had also learned of Jason's ascension to Super Saiya-jin 2, and was a little worried about that as well.

"Speaking of Dan, I want you to help me convince the others to stop training a little early." Dusty finally spoke up to Heero.

The Gundam pilot looked at him odd, "Why?"

"Because I got a surprise for us. Dan's told me that Radditz found a job at the McDonalds on Faircrest Ave near I-77. I need to talk to him later anyways." Dusty told him.

"I'll see what I can do, I guess." Heero thought to himself, looking over in the direction of where Radditz's training area was, wondering to him. For some reason though, he felt almost as if something new were on the horizon, but he couldn't put his finger on it...

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 12:25pm; Canton, Ohio)

At the forested area near Harry London Candies, Nina and Paula had once again picked up their training. As Nina had promised, but women had returned to their homes with 4x gravity still in effect. Both had found it a bit hard to do normal, everyday stuff while getting ready to rest up. Paula specifically found it a bit hard to train her mental powers with the gravity affecting her in such a way. However, Nina had decided she would increase the gravity to 7x of Earth's normal gravity. Both of the two of them had started off with dodging practice, throwing larger rocks at each other to train their reaction. Nina found that it was getting a bit more difficult to move around as she increased the gravity in greater increments.

She had done it this way so the two would gravity adapt to larger and larger amounts of increase in the environment. Nina had told Paula that they never knew if a potential enemy might be able to screw around with gravity like she could. Paula had replied then that was yet another reason she felt they should give gravity training to their other friends. However Nina didn't want to explain to her a second time that she still didn't think the others were quite ready, although she had mused, that Jason had taken a substantial jump in powerlevel. Paula had sensed Jason's powerlevel as well. It was almost even with her own the day before at its' peak.

She was beginning to understand just a little more of Nina's feelings on the matter. Already had one of her friends come close to catching up to both of them at his peak, and the fact the two women weren't Saiya-jin made them realize that their friends' attitude was an "every one for themself" kinda deal. Nina had even sensed Radditz's powerlevel take a large jump earlier, and had a feeling he may have well finally managed to transform himself to a Super Saiya-jin level.

Now Nina's mind turned to the matter at hand. Paula had wanted that the two of them spar hand to hand for once. Nina agreed it was time to actually try to see their own fighting skills. Nina was not large on hand-to-hand, and usually attacked her enemy with a ring on her finger that could shoot energy at them. While it could make a good surprise attack in a desperate situation, Nina knew she had to actually learn to kick and punch hard. She had a feeling Paula had the same problem, or similar, remembering of her using a frying pan a couple of times. Paula had told her she would not use the steel weapon in this fight, and both stood and stared towards each other, not even bothering to duck into fighting stances.

The two of them however were having a hard time trying to make the first move, each girl thinking the other wanted her opponent to make the first move to retaliate. Both knew charging in like a bull would not usually work in a serious farce. Nina jumped to her side, and charged at Paula from her left, and swung a kick which Paula managed to block as she jumped back. Paula then swung her fist quickly and managed to hit Nina in the shoulder, causing her to spin around a small amount, leaving Paula time to jump up and kick her in the back with a double-foot kick, sending Nina flying to the side. Nina barely managed to correct her landing, the 7x gravity almost messing up her concentration at that time. Paula quickly took to the offensive, and Nina found herself viciously trying to counter or block a barrage of fists from the smaller girl that she had been able to quickly execute.

_Shit! She's not kidding about fast!_ Nina thought quickly.

Paula suddenly kicked her foot out and tripped one of Nina's legs, sending the winged girl into the air, but Nina quickly kicked Paula in the chest before the smaller girl could follow up on the trip. Paula went flying backwards and barely managed to stop from colliding with a tree. Paula recovered and dashed at Nina, as she dashed towards her, and both swung a fist at each other, while their other hand ended each catching their opponent's attacking fist. Both of them grappled and struggled to gain an advantage.

Although Nina's powerlevel was higher than Paula's by about 200,000 degrees, Paula was a little better at hand-to-hand, keeping the two of them relatively even. However Nina realized that while Paula's arms were both occupied, she had two additional limbs, and start to swing her black wings out, slapping Paula on the head several times and beginning to whittle her down a little.

Paula grumbled _Dang, her wings are heavier than I thought! Wait a second! I think I have an idea!_ Paula then jumped up, although still grappling her arms with Nina's own, and gave Nina a vicious headbutt to the face.

Nina cried out in pain and released her grip, but she managed to swing her wings to throw a massive wind gust which caught Paula off guard and threw her back, and this time she wasn't able to stop from smashing against a nearby tree. Nina on the other hand had not been able to correct her fall either, but her landing on her back a bit less rough than Paula's stop. Although she realized her nose was slightly bleeding.

She was impressed her friend had the guts to pull off that stunt. _She probably realized my bone structure is more hollow than hers'._

Nina was no fool to the fact that being air-based and slightly bird like that her bones were not quite as dense as a normal human's. However she noticed Paula was having a bit of trouble peeling herself from the tree she smashed into.

"You win, this time." Paula said, not exactly thrilled with the prospect of colliding with the tree again so soon. She was surprised she hadn't knocked the thing over when she hit it.

Nina grumbled, "Well you did hurt me pretty bad too." Nina replied, "Where'd you get the idea to headbutt me anyways?"

"A friend of mine I knew was a martial artist of sorts. He uses an assortment of fighting moves, and I've seen him use that move before on a few of his enemies.4" Paula explained, "I guess mine worked too, but it wasn't enough. You're still moving better than I am right now."

"You want to just resume normal training procedure for now?" Nina asked.

"Yeah, better than you kicking my butt for now." Paula grumbled.

"You kicked mine too you know. You're not exactly weak." Nina grumbled rubbing her nose, which had stopped bleeding. Paula shrugged, as she walked over to the field track the two normally used.

They were planning on running 150 laps today, but Paula wasn't sure if her injuries would allow that to play out exactly that way. Nina had also flown over to the track, and started to run as well, thinking the same about her own injuries.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 12:20pm; Canton, Ohio)

Radditz stood silent on the fields at where he trained. He had talked with Teresa and Dan a little more about his job at McDonalds, and how their training would be cut off a few hours. He had also suggested today that Dan and Teresa train with each other and try to see how long they'd last against each other. Radditz had then gone over to a field roughly another mile south, but just close enough he could still keep some tabs on Dan and Teresa if need be.

He grumbled to himself about his plan for the sensu plant. He had checked the place where he planted the bean, and he had still not yet seen even a sliver of results. However, it was not that which had gotten under his skin. He had sensed out and felt Jason's powerlevel skyrocket, well above anything he himself could do. He already knew Jason had the ability to go Super Saiya-jin, but now he realized Jason must've found the way to reach the Super Saiya-jin 2 level Vegeta maxed out at. Radditz had realized he needed to figure out the transformation before he was left way behind in the dust.

He had remembered Goku tell him about the pain of loss, and how you needed to be above a 200,000 powerlevel, but Radditz soon realized the powerlevel requirement was hogwash, and decided that if Jason, Alex, Vernon, and even Clint could do it, he damn well would be able to do it.

Radditz thought back to his own past. He remembered that cruel asshole Frieza, and his left-hand man Dodoria, and his right-hand man Zarbon. He also remembered of Kwei, and then the Ginyu force, Gurudo, Jeice, Baata, Rikoom and Captain Ginyu himself. He snarled at the thought of those bastards and how they'd all walk all over him, Nappa and Vegeta when they had been younger and weaker, but Dodoria... the fat pink tub of lard was a very special case for Radditz. He would always taunt Radditz left and right, whether if in the presence of Vegeta and/or Nappa or not. Dodoria had also given him countless beatings during his service with Frieza, and usually Radditz spent more time healing than fighting when it came to the fat tub of lard.

However Dodoria's beatings were only a minor deal compared to the fact that Dodoria had killed another Saiya-jin, whose' name had long since been forgotten, a female that Radditz had been on the verge of mating with back when Planet Vegeta was still around. Dodoria had killed her right in front of his eyes, and he had been effortlessly thrown to the side when he tried to retaliate, and Frieza had even personally choked Radditz into near death with the iron-grip of his tail, saying that he would not allow him, Nappa or Vegeta, or any other Saiya-jin serving him to mate with any female working for him, Saiya-jin or not. Frieza thought of killing Radditz that day as well, but it was Dodoria who believed letting the long haired Saiya-jin live would serve to humble his pride for the rest of his life. That had been a part of the reason he was reluctant at first to accept Nina's help when she had assisted him in Hell.

He had finally felt it... that deep anger and loss surging straight from the soul. His body slightly tensed up as he began to grit his teeth and flare his ki aura to a healthy dark blue, and then it began to change over to gold, as Radditz's pupils faded from his eyes.

His long hair flicked gold two or three times, reverted to black for a few more seconds, and then Radditz's pupils reappeared, now turquoise, as he screamed out, "DOOOODOOOORRRIIIIIIAAAA!" His aura suddenly uncompressed and flew outwards, as his hair changed fully over to gold.

The shockwave from his aura surged out well over a full mile, so much that Dan and Teresa immediately sensed his powerup, and then had been knocked out of their spar, as they felt his energy.

"I think he just went Super Saiya-jin!" Dan commented.

"You mean where the hair stands up and turns gold?" Teresa asked for confirmation.

Dan was too fixated to reply verbally now, and shook his head in a yes-like motion. Meanwhile, Radditz was still growling, and he began to look to a far off shape, an extremely large tree. However in his anger, Dodoria was the only thing on his mind, with Frieza up on the list a close second. He positioned his hands in front of him, almost in that of a rectangular shape, and began to charge a healthy golden-orange shot in a box-like shape. Some looking at the residue coming off of the blast in between his hands might have mistaken the shape to resemble a kind of food tin.

"MONDAY HATRED!" he screamed and shot the rectangular blast straight at the giant tree. The tree would no longer be the same. While it had not been totally destroyed, the blast had ripped a rectangular shape through the trunk, and the blast had additionally ripped through several more trees, and continued forward, until finally landed inside of a nearby pond and erupted into a massive explosion.

Radditz's rage finally subsided, although he was able to hold onto his SSJ level. "I did it. Yes! YES YES YES! I finally became a Super Saiya-jin! I wonder what the hell all the others will say to this! I'm very sure they sensed my powerup. I'll have to see later if any of them will bother to ask." his face then looked more relaxed, and he looked downwards.

He smirked and then he screamed down, as if he were speaking to someone underneath the surface, "Hey Dodoria! I hope you're having fun down there rotting in Hell! Because I guarantee you if we ever meet again, I'll make you wish that you could die again!" He then sensed Dan and Teresa flying over in, probably to check on him. He knew if no one else, at least those two would've sensed him.

Dan saw Radditz, and he gaped in surprise, "I guess I was right! You transformed!"

"How'd you managed to gather the right anger?" Teresa asked, slightly more understanding to how anger could allow one to transform.

"An old enemy named Dodoria. I hated his guts. He was responsible for more of my own personal grief than even Frieza himself was, far far too much more." Radditz sighed, as he explained.

"Wait, is that why you were mad at Nina for helping you when you two met?" Dan asked.

"Yes... Dodoria, even in death, was still stronger than me by a good enough amount. I never managed to close that gap. In fact, Dodoria had been beating the shit out of me when Nina had helped me out." Radditz said, but it was then he realized, "And I owe her much... if it was not for her, I'd have never had the chance to try anew. I'd have... I'd have never had the chance to finally attain this power." he said sadly.

He then looked over to Dan and Teresa, "I'm sorry. You two must train yourselves for now. I'm done for today. I need to meet up with Kakarott, Vegeta and their gang soon. Now that I can actually transform, I need training to utilize it better. Go join up with Devin's group, or keep training each other for the rest of the day. I must think this over, and I must soon get ready for my first day at McDonalds."

"Radditz, wait a minute!" Dan tried to shout, but Radditz had quickly taken to the air and flew off towards McDonalds in the distance, but then he made a turn and flew back north, towards where he was staying.

Teresa looked on, a little saddened, "Radditz, you'll be alright... I hope."

Teresa sighed. Dan just looked on, as if he had been sucker-punched, almost. "Please tell me he's not going to abandon our training." Dan said, almost sounding like a growl out of his mouth.

"Dan don't. He's just disturbed by the latest events, and he's been given a new path with his transformation!" Teresa quelled him.

Dan still had the seed of doubt planted in his mind, and narrowed his eyes, "I know that, but he can't just abandon us either. He can't abandon you after he promised to train you! The same with me!" he growled, and he looked over, sensing out Devin, Clint, Virgil, Dusty, Dwayne, Heero and Steve.

"I guess we can join up with Devin's gang for now. Maybe they'll welcome some new company." Dan then said calmly. Teresa sighed, and nodded in agreement. The two took up to the air and flew off over towards Devin's gang of trainees. Maybe they'd provide a good challenge.

However, neither of the two would've noticed from the trees that a strange figure had been watching the entire ordeal of the last 30 minutes, eyeing them silently, and even having the ability to evade ki sense. A pair of glowing orange eyes emerged from the figure's head, and out stepped what appeared to be a Chihuahua. However this little dog was no man's best friend.

_Yes Dan... Radditz has ditched you. I will soon prove it to you, and soon, you will belong to ME._ The little dog, then ducked back into the forest, and darted around a few trees with the speed of a cheetah. After it cleared that set of trees, the creature was no longer a dog, but now it resembled a large buck, still with the orange eyes, as it darted off into the distance.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 12:10pm; Canton, Ohio)

At the abandoned arena outside of Massillon, Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo had decided about 50 or so minutes back they would go into an all out 1-on-1-on-1-on-1-on-1 melee and fight each other to the point of exhaustion. Since Vernon and Alex were a ways outside of the stadium attempting to gather the proper requirements, and Jason had been off nearby, trying to master hold on Super Saiya-jin for longer than 10 minutes. This had meant the five had full freedom to do as they needed with no one to worry about hitting with a stray beam or blast.

When the fight had started, Goku, having Super Saiya-jin 3 backing him up, appeared to have the advantage from the start of the battle, and went for Mr. Buu first, but Vegeta had temporarily formed an alliance with the large Majin, and both together were actually able to muck up Goku's concentration to some extent. Meanwhile, #17 and Piccolo had been sparring with each other again, having no interruptions from the other three nearby for the moment. However after #17 had been kicked up and smashed into Goku from behind costing him precious a precious chance to take out Buu for the time being, he soon teamed up with the cyborg in a strange twist of fate.

Piccolo had then joined up with Vegeta and Buu and attacking #17 and Goku. Although outnumbered, Goku alone was still giving the other team of three no room for error. #17 being a sort of wildcard due to being hard to sense made it interesting, because he would normally either try to harass Piccolo as he tried to aim a shot at Goku, or sometimes the cyborg would even shoot Vegeta from behind with various attacks, while they didn't really hurt the Saiya-jin prince too much, usually caused him to mess up one of his attacks.

Vegeta soon had gone after #17, nailing him with a fast punch, sending him flying to the ground, and taking a lot out of the cyborg, but it gave Goku time to appear above Vegeta and hit him in the back, knocking him downwards a good ways, but allowing Piccolo and Buu to fire a double Makankosoppo, which managed to combine and push Goku out of the air and cause him to land in the stands. Goku flipped up quickly and had prepared to fire up when he suddenly felt something new pop up on his ki sense.

"WAIT! HALT THE SPAR! I'm getting something new!" he called up. Vegeta, #17, and even Piccolo and Buu had stopped momentarily, as Goku felt for the ki more extensively.

"It's Radditz! He's just transformed too!"

"What, him too!" Vegeta cried, "Dammit! Jason's already Super Saiya-jin 2, and now Radditz finally achieved Super Saiya-jin!"

"Alright... it's definitely official. We need to go visit him up at his job soon enough." Piccolo stated. He had been worried this day would come for some time, and the Namekian still had some degree of distrust to Goku's older brother.

"Trust me Piccolo, I haven't forgotten." Goku replied, "But come now, do you still think he's so untrustworthy?"

"Look... I don't know if it's just me, but Radditz is acting a little... as if he's trying to hide something from us." Piccolo truthfully replied, "I admit, maybe I'm wrong about him turning on us, but I still can't help but think he isn't telling us something." Goku sighed mentally, realizing Piccolo had probably been referring to the fact that one of the sensu beans he had given Radditz on the 11th were being used as an attempt to grow a full blown sensu plant.

Goku knew if the plan worked that it could be a boon to all of the rest of them. However he was wondered if he should put Piccolo's mind at ease and explain the plan to him. However he remembered that Radditz hadn't wanted to tell the others because he was afraid he would fail to grow the plant.

"Don't worry yourself too much about it Piccolo. He didn't tell you guys for a reason." he spoke.

"Tell us what for what reason!" Vegeta growled. Goku sighed. He realized the might as well tell those four at least, if not anyone else.

"Guys, Radditz is..." Goku was cut off as a piercing scream had shredded through the air. It had came from outside the stadium. The five Z-senshi all felt Alex's powerlevel expand a great amount, almost quadrupling.

"Woah! Alex must've done it too!" Vegeta said, recognizing that Alex had probably now finally reached Super Saiya-jin 2. The five warriors jumped into the air and flew over the stadium and right over to Alex.

When they landed, they had gotten a glimpse at Alex. He had looked to be wearing an extremely grim expression on his now hardened face. His hair was in fact standing up almost completely upright, and his aura flaring nearly 20 feet into the air with electricity around his aura.

Jason soon landed and also witnessed this, "So he finally made it."

"Yes Jason. You were right." Alex said, his voice still serious as could be, "All that anger at the shit Al-queda did, I was finally able to properly channel it right. I finally ascended as well."

Goku looked at him impressed, "Good, you did it Alex. Now all we need for is for Vernon to finally do it."

Alex looked over to his west, "He's over there still trying at it as we speak. I think he's going to pop soon enough too."

"Then I don't want to be there to miss it." #17 said, wanting to make sure Vernon wouldn't decide to go feral again like the first time he had ever gone SSJ. The seven of them moved over to were Vernon was. They saw him with his head lowered, and they had already saw his ki flare a steady and calm recourse, contrast to the snarl on his face.

Vegeta watched it with grim interest, "These people... their will to learn is amazing..." he said, almost in a whisper to himself. Vernon's eyes opened, as electricity adorned his aura. Instead of releasing his power immediately, he jumped up into the air and screamed feral anger. His hair began to stand up fuller into the air, and the electricity began to crackle around him at a massive intensity.

And Vegeta soon spoke up, "He did it. He's also a Super Saiya-jin 2." However, Vernon was not done quite yet. For some strange reason, he began to feel the electricity course through his body, almost as if it were truly one with him instead of being just energy.

He landed to the ground with a swift motion, and yelled, "CLEAR THE WAY! ALL OF YOU!" in a voice that was quite unlike his normal demeanor. He sounded like he was about to expel a great burden from himself.

They did not understand just why they complied so easily with his order, but even Goku and Vegeta dodged out what they believed was about to become the path of a devastating attack, as Vernon outstretched his arms, and positioned his hands in a pose that would make him appear as if he were clasping a round and circular object.

What would happen next would be considered unprecedented in Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo's careers as fighters. They saw Vernon's body begin to emit now a bluish-looking electricity, in addition to the yellow-orange electricity that was in a normal Super Saiya-jin 2's aura. The blue electric looked to wrap around his legs, his arms, his stomach, and surged erratically.

"Damn, he must be really pouring on juice for that attack!" Jason growled, as he felt the energy began to slam into him with great force. Alex also felt this great force, and so did #17, Piccolo, Vegeta, and even Goku, still in Super Saiya-jin 3 form, had felt a considerable amount of force from the attack, but Piccolo, Goku and Vegeta's eyes were widened.

_I feel the energy hitting me in a physical way! But I don't sense any extra ki being placed into his attack!_ Goku thought in shock, and Vegeta and Piccolo had been thinking similar.

Buu however looked to be almost totally unaffected by the energy coming off of Vernon, and his the look on his face looked to be that of realization. _YES! It is! He's doing it! These people might really be more powerful than I ever imagined!_ Buu's thoughts were contrastively serious to his normal speech.

Vernon's body appeared to strain slightly as a strange, purplish-blue sphere of energy began to appear below the center of where his hands would meet, and now it looked like he was almost controlling the power of all electricity through his hands, as the sphere began to sparkle and crackle off a large amount of electrical energy. Buu could swear he heard the sphere give a vicious whine through the air.

Buu's eyes widened, but not in shock, but in realization as he called, "Do it Vernon!"

Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, Jason and Alex looked to Buu in surprise as Vernon's following scream came in at a loud volume, but the tone did not sound like an enraged teenager, but almost calm, "WILLY WISP."

With those words, Vernon tossed the ball towards the path made when everyone had dodged aside. The ball sheered through the side of a tree in its' path, and then lowered in altitude as it hit the ground, but unlike most ki blasts which exploded on impact, the ball exploded different, and erupted into a pulsing field of electrical energy, which then formed into a kind of controlled upward spiral into the air. The others sensed on.

"Kakarott, what is that attack! I don't sense any energy from it at all!" Vegeta said, actually sounding freaked out, as they witnessed the attack finally fade out as the last of the electrical energy dissipated into the air.

When they all looked back to Vernon, he looked to be back to original, half-laid back self. He was much calmer than he had been for the last 5 minutes, and his hair still stood up almost completely vertical. _That's... that's what's going to happen to those al-queda asshats when I finally get the chance to go after them._ Vernon thought calmly to himself.

Buu looked at Vernon and smiled, "Vernon did good! Vernon did very good! Buu commends you for that effort!"

"Buu, what's the big deal anyways? Why did you tell him to 'do it', whatever that meant?" asked Goku.

"Yeah Vernon, I didn't sense any energy in that blast you fired!" Piccolo cut in.

"You guys probably couldn't sense that because it wasn't ki energy." Vernon commented with a strange smile on his face.

"WHAT?" Alex asked in shock. Buu smirked, "Vernon know magic! YES HE DOES! YEAH!" Buu cheered, seeing Piccolo, Alex, Jason, Goku and Vegeta's mouths all falling a varying amount of inches.

"THAT WAS MAGIC!" Piccolo shouted out.

Alex was also surprised, "Wow, the rules must've really changed, if that was really magic, and... wait! HOLY SHIT! I think know that move you just used now! The Willy Wisp... it's an electrical magic bolt out of a game I play!"

"Yeah, I think it's a Mario RPG attack that some enemies use5. I don't know why I suddenly began to use it, but after I transformed to Super Saiya-jin 2, I felt like I had come into tune with electrical energy, and I just had to see if I could do something with it, so I decided to do the Willy Wisp." Vernon smirked.

"Okay so we know that what you did is magic, but why is it that big of a deal?" #17 asked, not understanding the big deal.

"Magic and Ki are two completely different things, #17. I've had my own run-ins with magical abilities, and Buu himself was created by Magic, if you hadn't known." Piccolo explained, "Babidi's energy barrier and Dabura's stone spit are both magical attacks, and I believe the flames he used while fighting Gohan were a kind of magic and ki cross. I found that despite how pathetically weak Babidi by himself was against me that I wasn't able to pierce his magic barrier for a while. I too have learned some magic adaptation from my encounter with him, but I've never bothered to try creating an attack from it."

"Piccolo understand." Buu replied, "Buu can sense magic energies, and ki energies! Radditz and Nina at least have gift too!"

"I kinda had a feeling Nina's little Hokaku attack and a few of the other strange energy attacks she used had to do with magic, but when the hell did Radditz use magic!" Vernon then asked.

"Buu sense him firing it off a few times yesterday. Was weak, but was still present. It mixed with Radditz's ki!" Buu spoke up, apparently revealing Radditz's new Atomic Ray attack had a form of magic in it too.

"God dammit! This is insane! Do you realize what this could mean!" Vegeta cut into the conversation, "Most of us barely have any real control over magic. Those three have a major advantage over us if they should think to use their magic on us! Our Ki is of no defense against Magic! They both operate of different forms of energy that would simply pass through each other if someone tried to use ki vs. magic in a beam struggle!"

"You basically mean Magic and Ki have different 'powerlevels'?" Alex asked.

"Yes. It wouldn't matter that Kakarott is a Super Saiya-jin 3 if his opponents magic-powerlevel was much higher than his own. They'd still be able to waste him if they got the time to fire off a strong enough magic blast." Vegeta replied, still grumbling.

"So how do we distinguish the different types of powerlevels?" Vernon asked.

"Personally, I think normal powerlevel would be best called "battlepowerlevel", and magic powerlevel be called, well... "magicpowerlevel". It's too bad Radditz's scouter would probably have no way of detecting magicpowerlevel." Goku had suggested and mused on this development.

"Hmmm... you know what, I think... I think you all deserve a slight break." Piccolo smirked at the three younger Saiya-jin, "I think if you all train a bit too much that you're going to lose what remains of your teenhood."

"Come on Piccolo, we need to get stronger still! I wanna be an SSJ3!" Alex whined.

Goku looked at Alex with a strange expression, not necessary a jealous or stern expression, but one that indicated that he believed something was up, "Alex, it will probably be extraordinarily hard for any more transformations from here on out. Super Saiya-jin 3 is something I was only able to get after intense training in the afterlife. As you know from your show, although I admit it did exaggerate it a little, a year in the afterlife of training is like around 60 in normal terms. It took me at least 5 years while I was dead to learn how to control Super Saiya-jin 3, and even then, I still can't hold the state longer than 50 minutes at a time."

"I thought it was only like 10 minutes?" asked Vernon.

"It used to be, but 10 years is a lot of time to learn to lessen the drain of energy a little, but it can still be a killer if you over do it." Goku explained, "But still, for me, it was like 300 normal years in time to finally ascend to Super Saiya-jin 3, and that's extreme, even compared to Muten Roshi taking 50 years just to perfect his own Kamehameha attack."

"Yeah, but you yourself have bested the odds others presented to you, so why not us?" asked Jason, making Goku realize the validity of this statement. He had only taken less than 1 year to make a reasonable strength Kamehameha after he saw Roshi do it at Frypan Mountain, and he had learned to do even the weakest of Kamehamehas within less than an hour of seeing Roshi do his first one.

It was then Goku realized something, _The further the generations progress, the easier it seems for them to get the things it took us a long struggle to learn. I mean, Vegeta, Gohan, Mirai Trunks and I had to struggle to learn the Super Saiya-jin level, and Goten and the present version of Trunks learned how to do it at age 8 of all things. When I was only 13, I started off with a powerlevel of roughly 25, where as Goten and Trunks were well above the tens of millions at base by the same time in their lives. Just maybe these people will leave THEM in the dust._

He then spoke up, his expression softening into a half-smirk, "Well you never know actually, you might just be right Jason." but then he chuckled, as everyone else heard a reasonably loud roar emit from Goku, but not his mouth.

Vegeta sweatdropped, "You're hungry... it figures Kakarott." he said in a low voice, but he then realized he too was falling into hunger.

Piccolo of course did not care so much since Namekians did not need to eat, and #17 did not HAVE to eat, but he was planning on visiting Radditz at his new job later anyways, so he didn't care. Of course, Buu would never turn down food, being just as hungry as Goku could be. Also, Vernon, Alex and Jason were also pretty hungry as well, especially Jason and Alex, who could eat roughly as much as Vegeta or Radditz at their hungriest.

"Yeah, why don't we just head back to our place for a bit, get an appetizer for now, and then go over and meet up with Radditz at his new job." Vegeta then suggested, causing all the others to nod in agreement, as they lifted up into the air, and took charge in the air, flying back southward, their main tasks for the day finally fulfilled.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 3:54pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at their training field and forest, Paula and Nina had not missed Vernon and Jason's transformations to Super Saiya-jin 2 on their ki radars. However Nina had sensed something additionally that Paula had not. Nina, like Buu, also had the ability to sense magical energies much in the same way as Buu had. Paula had asked her why she looked so bugged out, and Nina had explained to her about Vernon's Willy Wisp magic attack, and how she could sense the aura of magic, and that Magic and Ki appeared to have a separate breed of energies from one another.

It was then Paula had gotten extremely curious. She had asked that she and Nina go back to the open field so they could test something. Nina was a bit perplexed and followed her smaller ally to the field. "Paula, exactly what do you want me, er us, to do, anyways?" Nina asked when they had arrived.

Paula looked over to her, "You told me Magic and Ki are different from another. Now I need to find out something of my own. I need to know where my PK powers fall into the picture." Nina's eyes furrowed in realization, "Of course, how could I forget. You mean you're actually going to show me one of your powers now?"

"First off, I'm going to do a minor PK attack at the ground. I want you to try to see if you can sense it, and if you can, I want to know if it feels similar to magic or not." Paula replied as she turned and looked to the ground.

She raised a hand and fashioned into pointing her index finger into the air. As she did, Nina gaped as she saw a large ball of fire appear on the end of Paula's finger, appearing to do no harm to its' wielder whatso ever. She then pointed her finger at the ground, and Nina was caught off guard as she saw a large fireball streak from Paula finger and smash into the ground a few feet away at high speeds.

"I didn't sense that at all!" Nina told her quickly. Paula narrowed her eyes and turned back to Nina, "Now, can you wield fire magic of your own? I want to try to sense for it."

Nina nodded, and turned around, raising her hand in the air, cupped upside down, as she began to form a ball of fire in her palms. Paula noticed she could just barely sense the energy, but it did not feel like the PK attacks she could use, but like something that was neither Ki or PK energy. "SPARK." Nina shouted as she threw the fireball into the ground ahead of her, looking in some ways much like Paula's fiery PK attack.

"I did sense that, but it was only barely. It doesn't feel the same as normal Ki energy. Now I want to do a real test." Paula figured it was now or never, "I'm going to charge one of my ki blasts and hurl it your way. I want you to charge a decent strength magic attack and fire it straight at me."

"You want to see if the energies will interact in any way?" Nina had realized what her friend had been going for.

Paula ducked down slightly as she formed a Soukidan in her hand, not the most powerful, but strength wasn't the point, it was the principle of it being ki that mattered. "NOW!" she screamed as she pitched the Soukidan at Nina, and then dodged aside as to avoid anything that might come her way. Nina focused her eyes on the Soukidan and fired off a large electrical bolt which flew dead straight at the Soukidan. However both women watched in amazement as both attacks passed right through one another, as if they had completely ignored each other. Both women watch the other's attack impact with the ground behind them, Paula's creating a small explosion, and Nina's dispersing a small area of electrical energies.

"Now you fire a large ki blast, and I'll fire a PK attack of my own at it!" Paula quickly called, already knowing what to shoot. Nina quickly charged a small Kamehameha wave and shot just enough of one that it looked like a wispy trail as it flew towards Paula. Paula thrust her hands outwards towards the blast, in what looked like a sideway Kamehameha hand cup, but it was not a kamehameha, but a moderate sized blue ball of icy energy with wind flowing around it, that was flung at Nina's blast. Both women dodged aside as they again witnessed both attacks ignore each other and pass through as they had never been there.

"ALRIGHT. Nina we both launch fire attacks of PK and Magic at each other! NOW!" Paula screamed over quickly and had already shot another burst of her psychic fire blast ahead at Nina. Nina almost hesitated, but launched a stronger called Flame at the fire blast.

However both women underestimated the speed of the other's attack, and they watched in amazement as the two fireballs went right through one another without interaction, but they had been so fixated they had forgotten to dodge, this Nina had gotten hit by Paula's fireball and fell on her back, and Paula had been hit with Nina's flame ball, also being knocked backwards. Both had been slightly engulfed by fire, having to stop, drop and roll, much like being in a cheese safety video to subdue the flaming effects of each other's attacks. After they finally recovered, they both got to their feet.

"Okay, okay enough!" Nina growled over at Paula, "We get the point now: Ki, Magic and PK are three completely different types of energy, they don't interact and they each seem to have their own powerlevels separate from one another!6"

Paula grumbled to herself, and a sweatdrop was on her head as she scratched her head in embarrassment, "Yeah sorry. I got a bit carried away in the moment. I haven't really trained with another person like this in quite some time. I guess you're presence is growing on me!"

Nina sweatdropped at her, "Riiight, my presence should make you less jumpy than more." she then laughed.

Paula blushed, "True. Anyways, now what?"

"We're done for now. I want to remove the gravity aura for now. I'm a bit too tired from our spar and getting burned by your blast to keep going on. And it might help to finally remove it after having it on for nearly 40 hours at a time." Nina said, as she soon chanted out at Paula, and she had felt significantly lighter as the gravity dissipated from around her.

Nina soon did the same thing to herself. Paula bent down, and lunged upwards into the air without warning. Much to Nina's surprise she had jumped without ki assistance to a height where she couldn't not see the smaller girl anymore. Knowing she had nothing to lose, she also ducked down and lunged up, surprised to find that she was rocketing upwards at extremely high speed. She quickly saw Paula still lifting upwards, but noticed she had gradually caught up with her, and then even surpassed her height.

"Woah! This has to be nearly three-fourths of a mile we've jumped!" Paula was in shock at how light she felt at that moment, but then she realized she and Nina were finally descending at high speeds. The two women where just able to ignite their ki quick enough to cushion their otherwise nasty fall. Both women straightened themselves out.

"So, what do we do with the rest of today?" Paula asked, "Why don't you come with me to the McDonalds on Faircrest Avenue. Radditz is gonna start working there today, and I got the feeling some of the others will probably be going to visit, since Radditz mentioned Goku's gang had planned to stop by."

"Hmm, I take it you want us to lower our energy a little when we see the others, don't you?" Paula asked her friend.

"Yes. I'm still not sure if I can really tell them yet that were doing anything serious. Of course, they might still assume we're doing some training. I just don't want to get Alex, Jason, Vernon the rest of my friends to try to baby us out of it if they do find out by giving off too strong of an energy." Nina explained.

"Alright, I guess we should get going." Paula said, as she began to lift herself into the air. Nina followed suit, and the two women soon shot off southwards, soon splitting off as Nina had reached her house, and Paula continued to her house to rest a little before the two would regroup to go to McDonalds.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 4:16pm; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, back at Devin's vacant lot, Clint and Devin had felt Radditz become a Super Saiya-jin several hours ago, and then soon they had felt both Alex and Vernon's powerlevels rising drastically.

"Dammit! I still can't believe those three clowns managed to turn Super Saiya-jin 2 in less than two weeks!" Devin growled. He was now feeling generally pissed about the developments, "I really wish we had a gravity chamber or two to use!"

Clint could swear in Devin's annoyance, that faint black aura from the day before had reappeared around him and flickered in a couple of times before it had vanished again. Clint didn't think it was a transformation due to the fact that he didn't really see anything else about Devin change, and any powerups he got quickly diminished after the flashes occurred.

"Devin, calm down. We should probably take a break soon and head to the McDonalds for some food." Clint suggested, having been quite hungry himself, not to mention McDonalds had been one of his favorite fast food places.

Devin sighed, "If you say so Clint, if you say so." They had called over and gotten the attention of Dwayne, Virgil, Steve, Heero, Dan, Dusty and Teresa, and called them over to prepare to head off towards McDonalds.

Dan grumbled just a slight bit when he heard that, but maybe he could talk more to Radditz when he arrived there. It had also turned out Steve had gotten a call on his cell phone by Vegeta, telling them his own little gang were heading to the same McDonalds. It had been a chance for the entire group to remerge and get some quality time. The nine of them discarded their weights and put them back in the make-shift dressing room, and they also had put Virgil's mallet away in the storage garage near Devin's house, and they all blasted off on their way to McDonalds, intending to eat the day away.

(September 14, 2001 A.D.; 4:30pm; Canton, Ohio)

Devin's gang would soon arrive at the McDonalds/Marathon station along Faircrest Avenue, where they would already find Nina and Paula sitting at a table, eating a few McChicken Sandwiches, and they had not yet caught site of Radditz, or of Alex's little gang just yet. The seven of them found a table close to Nina and Paula, across from the two women.

"So, long time no see." Nina commented, "You goofs behaving well?"

"Ha ha... Yes, we're doing just fine. Thanks for asking anyways." Devin grumbled. Nina had seen Dan and Teresa, "I was wondering where you two had gone. I figured you'd all be here first to see Radditz off on his first day."

Dan frowned, "No, he told us to join up with Devin's group for the rest of the day. He managed to become a Super Saiya-jin earlier. I guess the stress is getting to him. He's thinking about breaking off our own training to join with Goku's group so he can get better training as an SSJ."

"Dan, you okay?" Paula asked.

"I guess I feel a little worried Radditz is gonna ditch Teresa and I for Goku's group. I guess I feel a little sore about it. Also, I'm sure a lot you must feel jealous, not being able to transform yourself."

Devin frowned, "Don't even remind me about that."

"Sorry, must've hit a nerve." Dan sighed.

"You could say that again." Devin replied.

"Hey where exactly is Mr. Long Hair anyways?" asked Dusty to Paula.

"He's back there, but he's not really a cashier most of the time. He seems to be doing grunt work like moving things. Nina mentioned to me that's what he said about the job." she replied back.

"I see. I noticed Neil's here." Devin replied, referring to a former-student from Canton South known as Neil Lorenzo. Neil was actually one of the nicer students who had known the Misfits, and also had ill-feelings towards Jackson and his little yesmen. He also had the tendency to stop by at the school once a week to check up on his old friends.

Devin then took his group to the counter, and Neil noticed him, "Hey Devin, you guys have been missed back at South. With Jackass suspended, his little butt-kissing buddies are too afraid to badmouth you guys for helping to save the county from those terrorist bastards."

"I can imagine. So he's out of there right now huh?" Dusty replied back.

"Yeah, thank God. Anyways, what do you all want? I noticed your lady friends are in the back, you all meeting up here or something?" Neil asked.

"Actually, kinda, that and Radditz is one of us, as you might have figured out." Clint explained, "As for me, two 20 piece McNuggets, a Large Fry, and a Large Strawberry milkshake for me." he then gave his order. Neil put it all down.

Dwayne was next, ordering 3 steak sandwiches and a medium fry.

Steve had gotten an extra-large Sprite, a medium fry, and 3 large cheeseburgers.

Dusty had gotten 2 BLTs, along with a 10 piece McNugget and a medium fry and a medium banana milkshake.

Dan had only gotten a large salad and a 6 piece McNugget.

Teresa had gotten 2 cheeseburgers, two medium fries, and a medium chocolate milkshake.

Heero had been very hungry, ordering 4 McChicken Sandwiches and a large coke in order to wash them down.

Devin had ordered a cheeseburger, a McChicken Sandwich, and a 20 piece McNugget.

Finally, Virgil had ordered 2 large fries and a large Pepsi.

As this had been going on, Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo had all arrived, with Jason, Alex and Vernon training behind them at base level. They were surprised to find Paula and Nina at the back table as well, but they had been expecting they'd probably meet up with Devin's group. They had also noticed Dan and Teresa with them. The other nine had just received their food, even Virgil, as the eight of them entered.

"Hey you guys, we're here!" Goku called to them cheerfully. Devin and his group perked up, and Paula and Nina looked over to them.

"So you're all here then. Once Radditz comes out, that outta be our entire gang now!" Nina called back. Neil had soon greeted Goku's gang, as Goku himself was more than happy to be the first to make an order, to everyone's expectation.

Neil had sweatdropped after he heard Goku order 4 apple pies, 4 hamburgers, 4 BLTs, 4 McChicken Sandwiches, 4 Extra-large fries, 8 Fish Fillet Sandwiches and 4 twenty piece McNuggets.

As Neil called out the obscenely large order to the back, everyone else heard a "Ah dammit he's here isn't he?" sound from the back, sounding to be Radditz's voice.

Then a door in the back opened, and Radditz walked out, but he was not decked out in his normal attire of Saiya-jin armor or the black undersuit, but he was wearing his own version of the standard McDonalds uniform, along with the goofy looking cap trying to stand in one of the large tufts of his hair. He walked over and saw Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo, and then saw Alex, Jason, Vernon, and then Dan, Dusty, Steve, Dwayne, Heero, Teresa, Clint, Devin and Virgil. He already knew Paula and Nina had been there, them having gotten to the restaurant just as he was coming in.

"You want me to handle making these guys' orders? I know my brother can eat more than enough to fill 4 cows, and Buu is about the same." Radditz asked.

Neil nodded, "That'd... be appreciated."

Radditz mock saluted to Neil and zoomed back, with Goku's order now in hand, as Buu was next to order. He had looked wanted 11 fish sandwiches, and 10 McChicken Sandwiches, along with 3 extra-large coca-colas. Neil had given that order to Radditz as well, who grumbled slightly at Buu, bit did his duty anyways.

"I'll just have 3 of the largest quantity of those chicken nugget things." Vegeta said mootly, and Neil had given that slightly more normal order to one of the other workers.

Piccolo had simply asked about where a fresh water dispenser was. Neil pointed over to a machine near the drink-filler that dispense cold ice that he could melt into water. Piccolo shrugged and had gotten a large glass and filled it with enough ice water to fill to the top, and promptly sat over with his other comrades who were already eating.

#17 had only gotten a strawberry milkshake, and a small salad, again not having to really eat. Neil had felt that to be probably the most normal order so far, not counting Piccolo since water was free anyways.

Alex had ordered four Fish Fillet sandwiches, and then a large fry along with some water like Piccolo, much odd to his friends.

Jason had order two twenty piece McNuggets as well, along with a large and a medium fry. He also decided to take after Alex and get some ice water though.

Vernon finished up by ordering a couple of extra-spicy McChicken sandwiches with a large Root Beer to top it off.

They got their orders done, and Neil had calculated the sum total among all 18 of the others to be around $298.43, which Vernon had decided to pay for out of his own pocket, before either Paula, Dwayne or Steve could volunteer their own money.

Now the entire group of Misfits, sans Radditz had basically gathered into one place.

"So guys, what's up anyways? Training treating fatty over here well?" Alex asked, referring to Virgil, much to Devin's relief. He really didn't know if he'd be able to withstand it if Alex started messing around with him at the time.

Virgil grumbled, "Alex, don't even talk, I've gotten excellent at level 3 training clothes."

Alex chuckled, "Really there, Virgil? You're actually able to move in those? If it's true, then I'd be more than the least bit shocked."

"It's true Alex, we've been there. Devin's got him doing a method he said Goku told him." Clint piped in.

Goku looked to them, "Is it that hammer swinging training that I mentioned?"

"Yeah, the same thing you apparently used on Gregory on King Kai's planet.7" Devin confirmed.

As the bunch discussed over matters at hand, they had mentioned to each other of their major achievements, with the exception of Paula and Nina, although Paula had really wanted to say it. Nina just wasn't ready yet to tell them. Although Alex had pointed out the two of them felt a little bit stronger, the two had also lowered their powerlevels a little, just enough that it seemed they were about 150,000 degrees stronger than they had started out on the 11th. The two mentioned it was more of exercise-type training than serious fighting. Although Goku had known better, he didn't say anything about it, knowing Nina had wanted him to keep their secret.

"So Vernon can use magic now?" Dusty had asked upon learning of Vernon's Willy Wisp attack.

"Yeah, it's rather cool thing too. Magic and Ki seem to be two different things, so they seem to have their own separate 'powerlevels'." Vernon explained.

Nina replied, "Yes, I did sense that too. Now you have a bit of an understanding of how I can shrink you when you screw around too much." Nina said in a joking tone, knowing Vernon wasn't big on the 'being shrunk' part.

"So, how is Heero handling all the training anyways?" asked Dan, not having been around the Gundam pilot a large amount of times since their return from Tokyo.

"Heero's already at level 3 training clothes, and he actually matched up well against a stronger Dusty in an earlier spar. He must have prior hand-to-hand battle experience or something." Virgil mentioned.

There was a little bit more talk among the group of friends. Sadly Radditz could not really join them during any of it, and Dan was a little miffed about it. Although he was trying to tell himself it was nothing serious. It was just complications of being both a future-superhero and a fast-food worker. Teresa had sensed a little of his misgivings, but she didn't decide she wanted to talk about it with him, especially not in front of the others, however she too then decided she wanted to mention something to them, not sure yet if they considered her really to be one of them.

"Hey Dan, I noticed you never mentioned of my clone ability to them." she spoke up.

Dan looked up, as if he were slightly shaken from a thought, as the others looked at Teresa a little.

"Clone ability? You mean she learned a multi-form like the Shishin No Ken?8" asked Piccolo.

"No no no... this is much different." Dan said, "She appears to do it by firing a set number of blasts around for a while, and then she merges them all to form an energy clone of herself that she can actually interact with and spar with. She first did it yesterday, and it looked really useful. It seemed to be more than just something like a Kamikaze Ghost. The spirit doesn't explode on contact with someone, and it can actually shoot it's own blasts and stuff." Dan blabbed to them.

Goku actually looked intrigued. "If something like that is true, then you should try to show us someday. Maybe it'll make a kind of alternative to the normal Shishin No Ken. Unless the power is split up between you and your clone."

"No, my powerlevel only seems to lessen slightly, around 5 to 10 according to the last three scans Radditz did on me with his scouter thing while I was using it." Teresa said.

Vegeta looked a bit interested, and actually spoke up, "You see now, it seems everyone is learning stuff fast. This new generation is reminding me of Trunks's generation."

"Well Radditz appeared to learn two new attacks of his own in addition to his transformation." Dan mentioned.

"Buu sensed he did a semi-magic attack!" Buu then cut in. Dan, and Teresa, as well as Clint, Steve, Devin, Dwayne, Heero and Virgil were also a bit shocked.

"I bet it must be his Atomic Ray. He told me something about how a small part of it feels like it's not made of ki energy." Teresa spoke up.

Paula decided that even if she couldn't tell them about the full brunt of her own training that she might as well break one other bit of news. "Speaking of Magic, Ki and all that stuff. I need to add more to the information pool. There's apparently a THIRD type of energy variant that ignores both Magic and Ki attacks. It's a kind of power I wield known as PK." Paula had then slowly explained to them the process of how PK was a mental based energy, and Goku and Vegeta, and even Buu had some expressions of shock on their faces.

However this time Piccolo smirked at the other major enemy of his late-father, "So it is true. The Psychokinetic power does have it's own wavelengths of energy. You see Paula, I think Frieza possessed a lesser degree of your PK abilities. He couldn't form energy with it or shoot blasts, but he had so much psychic ability that I actually saw him lift an entire mountain with his powers before with no visible strain on himself."

Paula's eyes went wide, "What! Really? Wow... he could've been truly one bad dude if he had known how to use true PK abilities or had been smart enough to consider them more useful."

Vegeta growled at the mention of Frieza, and wasn't one for hearing 'what-if' situations concerning his former-master's power, "Alright enough about that bastard. I don't think we need to bring back voodoo on us by talking about him."

"Aw come on Vegeta, he's dead!" Alex said to him with a cheer, "It's not like he could come back from the dead, and even if he did, even I, Jason, Vernon could hold him off decently, and the rest of you could probably slaughter him now. It's not like villains can get stronger when their dead. They're like wispy white clouds down in Hell."

"Alex, did your brain snap? Don't you remember Nina was sent TO Hell when the merger happened? She saw both Radditz AND Dodoria's physical forms battling each other. As long as anyone keeps their body, they can get stronger, even in Hell." Clint mumbled at Alex, annoyed he would forget that, but then his expression softened, "Although I do agree with you on Frieza. Even if he had trained all 20 plus of those years he was dead, it's not like he could ever get stronger than Cell, in my opinion. He's probably still weaker than what Perfect Cell was when he died."

Alex smacked his forehead, "Sorry Clint, kinda forgot some things on the show don't seem to have really happened in this case." he then cast an odd look back and forward between both Goku, Paula and Piccolo, still confused to how the hell Paula could know the other two in her childhood. She was not a character on the show, at least not the version he had seen and reviewed.

After a short more amount of talking, the 17 free Misfits, and Teresa as well, who had been assured by Goku that she could probably join their gang if she needed to, had all finished eat their food, and they had all said their goodbyes to each other, and also told Radditz and Neil they had been leaving. All of them except for Nina had left and headed back to their homes. Nina had decided she was just going to stay a little longer. 

Something felt out of place to her, as if she had a strange sense of deja vu or something. She got to talk to Radditz one more time and told him they'd talk at home that night. Radditz nodded, and shooed her away after that, not wanting to get fired for talking to his friends too much on shift. Nina soon departed and flew back towards her own home, as sunset was starting to make itself known...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1** **Giygas** Paula's own 'true' arch-enemy, from the RPG Earthbound, for those of you that didn't know where she came from before now. :P

**2** For those who've never played EB, or at least never met Giygas, spoiler He destroyed his own mind and body in fits of insane evil before Paula and her friends even confronted him. When his true form was released, nothing could harm or destroy him except positive faith(aka the hopes of the friends and other good-natured people of Earth). There's a lot more explanations to his "nigh-unkillable" status Paula tells Nina about all around the internet. Basically, it's like being trapped in thousands of insane asylums, and (at least storywise) it is impossible to comprehend his attacks, therefore there is supposed to be little means to block them(although the game mechanics are odd in this manner, since you can give characters items that protect from the affects of his attacks ahead of time) :P

**3** Since most of the characters don't have the ability to use gravity training for a while, the best alternative is different levels of weighted clothing. I decided to class them by weight-ranges. And yes, the levels will be higher levels in later parts. I guarantee it. :P

**4** Paula is referring to Poo, the martial-arts prince that is the fourth and last part member in Earthbound. :P

**5** Yeah, THAT Willy Wisp. To be honest, now that I realize it, the original version actually burrows underground and then emerges above the target in a vertical column of electricity, but who says things can't be a bit different once in a while:P

**6** **_VERY _****_ IMPORTANT: _**In Misfits, I have established already there are three mystical forms of power: Ki, the usual energy used in the Dragonball Series. Magic, the arcane force used in many different games. And then PK/PSI, which is a mind-based power, which is established in EarthBound. Also, there is at least one more form of power to be discussed, but there will be some time before it is revealed by name. All four types ignore each other on their own when used in attacks, and each of their own powerlevels. Example: As of now, in a battle between Nina and Goku for instance, Goku would easily wipe Nina on the floor using Ki, but Nina would just as easily do the same to Goku via Magic. It depends on who manages to do what first. And no, scouters cannot yet sense the other 3 types of powerlevels. :P

**7** Yes, I know Gregory and the mallet training is a "filler" scene in the anime, but I think it was a cool concept, even for filler, and besides, the show is what gave Devin the idea anyways. :P

**8** **Shishin no Ken** "Fist of Four Bodies". Tien/Tenshinhan's "12 Eyes" ability, where he splits into four, also dividing his powerlevels among his duplicates.


	11. Part 10: Weak of Will, Strong of Mind

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan, Neil © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Juuhachigou/#18, Mr. Buu © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa, Oyatsu © Me  
-----------------------------

**Part 10: Weak of Will, Strong of Mind**

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:12am; Canton, Ohio)

Around 6.5 miles to the east of Clint's house, on Waynesburg drive was a medium sized house which was one of few that decorated the nearby landscape. Much like Fohl Village was in the middle of the boonies, so was this place. However what most did not know was that this was the house of Dan Laubacher, one of the Misfits who was training himself in order to become a protector of the good and peaceful. He was also on a hell-bent mission for revenge, on the terrorist organization known as Al-queda, of which one of their own operatives admitted to his face that they had been responsible for the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, and also the Pentagon in Washington D.C. In addition, Dan himself had been mysteriously picked as a priority one target, and they had even used someone Dan now called a friend to try to get to him without being discovered. She was a young woman by the name of Teresa Hamilton, and her family had been held at TNT-point by a pair of the Al-queda fanatics.

However before the first of the terrorists had died, Dan and others present during that particular attack had been told a 'secret operative' had given them information stating Dan would one day directly threaten the leaders of Al-queda, regardless of the horrible attacks or not. Dan and the other Misfits had never actually found this 'secret operative', and it had him worried greatly. What if they decided to try at him, or even Teresa again? It was true she was now training alongside him and Radditz, but the rest of her family was just as vulnerable as before, and Dan's own family were not ki-shooting, flying superheroes now. Either of their families could be put at risk.

It was because of this reason, and reasons prior that Dan had built himself a special garage, roughly 20 feet wide, which would serve as a kind of workplace. He had not gotten to break the place in too much, but he had gotten one object to examine, one that had been infact from the attacks on him: a strange, tuba-looking gun that the first Al-queda operative had used to both paralyze him and then Devin in a strange electromagnetic field that prevented most movement. If it had not been for Nina's quick intervention, Teresa would've been forced to shoot both him and Devin dead, and then if it had not been for Clint and his 'miraculous' Super Saiya-jin transformation, all of Canton and most of Akron and several other nearby towns would've been blown to Hell by a final bomb that had been rigged with enough power to critically wound someone as strong as Frieza in his first form at point blank range.

Dan had looked over the weapon a few times, but between the many training sessions with Radditz and Teresa, he found he had little time to put his makeshift garage of fancy stuff to use. However that might soon in fact change, as Dan discovered that his teacher had both been able to recently attain Super Saiya-jin himself, and wanted to do some control training with Goku and Vegeta. Secondly, Radditz had now also just the day before started a part-time job at the McDonalds on Faircrest Ave. That had been making Dan curious about Radditz. Also, the earlier day the taller Saiya-jin had neglected to get Teresa immediate attention because of an idea of his that he didn't even want to tell Dan, making the two of them spar each other enough to look like they had been roughed up. Dan had wondered deep down if Radditz had really become one of them, or if Piccolo had been right all along on his original suspicion that Radditz was using them to get stronger.

It was all of this on his mind that had kept Dan from sleeping that night. In fact, he had opted to going to his new personal garage to check up and see if he could make progress on possibly reverse-engineering that tuba-like gun, or remaking it as a weapon of their own. However, he was still having trouble understanding just what to make of it. It didn't help the weapon itself had been wrecked up, being dropped on the hard street by the original user when he had been fatally wounded by Nina's angry vengeance. Dan had wiped some sweat off of his head and taken off his special tinted goggles. He walked outside of the garage and looked up and down the road, as if contemplating just what he should do. He however had not immediately noticed a small creature walking up to him. That is, until he heard a soft "Meow" at his foot. Dan looked down and saw a small cat snuggling up against his leg, purring low, and meowing at him.

The cat looked up at him, and meowed lightly. Dan looked over the cat more closely, the light from his garage revealing some of its' features. It had been a grayish and black striped cat, and it looked rather well groomed, with a pair of strange yellow-orange eyes that glowed in the light.

Dan, not having much else to do, bent down and picked the cat off the ground and held it against him, "What's a little guy like you doing out here?" he asked it.

The cat merely meowed at a high pitch. Realizing the feline wanted to be pet, Dan decided to do exactly just that. He pet the cat for about 10 seconds, all the while wondering why it was here of all places, since cats' didn't usually hang out in his neck of the woods. However, Dan's vision suddenly brightened as if he had been caught in a Taiyoken attack. Dan suddenly blanked out, although he thought he had heard a faint meow as his vision had gone white.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:25am; Canton, Ohio)

Dan soon came to his senses. However to his surprise, he had found he was still standing along the road near his garage, and he still had his arms holding up the cat, or at least he had thought so, until he noticed there was no longer any cat in his arms. In fact, it was as if it had jumped out of his arms while he blacked out. Dan shook his head, wondering if for a moment he had some sense of deja vu or something. He sighed to himself and walked back into his garage. However when he went to look at the tuba-like weapon again, he noticed something different near it. A small looking capsule-like object with what appeared to be a push button on one end was laying right next to the gun.

"Where'd this come from?" Dan asked to himself, "It looks like one of the capsules on Dragonball." He grabbed the capsule, and hit the button, and threw the capsule on the ground.

The capsule erupted into smoke, and unveiled... several more capsules. "More of them!" Dan said in bewilderment.

He bent down and grabbed all of the new capsules and set them down on the table, however a green capsule in the set caught his interest.

"Go ahead Dan. Take a peek." said a new voice that made Dan jump nearly to the roof of his garage.

The capsule fell to the floor and the button pressed. The capsule erupted into more smoke, but now in it's place was an object that made Dan's heart chill to the bone.

"It's... it's another one of those guns!" he stammered, looking at a fully functional version of the same tuba-like gun that had been used by the first Al-queda operative, the same gun used on him.

"Yes, I'm sure you remember quite well of those guns." echoed that voice again.

"Who's... who's there!" Dan called out, not sensing any new energy signatures, or any of those of his own friends.

"Don't bother yelling out loud. I'm not near you, I'm IN you." the voice replied, concealing a chuckle.

"IN me! What're you talking about?" Dan asked. Suddenly, he felt his leg move, but it was not totally at his own command. Then his other leg began to move, until Dan noticed he was walking over to a nearby mirror.

"Take a look at yourself, Einstein." the voice said to him, as Dan looked into the reflection.

He looked pretty much normal, at least until he suddenly saw his eyes go from green to orange, and saw his mouth move, as the voice spoke with his own mouth, "Hiya Dan! Nice to meet you!"

Dan regained full control of himself and jumped back in horror, his eyes reverting to green, "Shit! What the hell?"

"Hello there Dan!" the voice spoke out loud again, now sounding to be from within Dan's own mind, "Nice to finally get the chance to get acquainted with you." Dan was horrified at this. Something was running around in his head, and it did not seem to be a good sign.

"What are you! What're you doing inside of me?" Dan asked in anger.

"Oh don't be that way Dan. I'm here to help you actually." the voice replied.

"Help me? With what?" Dan asked.

"Are you so dense! I'm talking about those fools Heero and Radditz of course!"

"Why would I need help with them? They're on the same team as me." Dan replied.

"Oh... not anymore... I should also say I'm also here to help you in dealing with the other 'Misfits', as you call yourselves. You see Dan, I've grown to like you since we met on the plane back to Canton. Even though I did try to have you killed in the past, I realize how much of a mistake it would've been if those Arabic goons had succeeded in getting rid of you. You're of much better use to me alive than dead."

"Wait, we've met before!" Dan asked.

"Well, you don't know me personally, but I know of you. Back then, I just looked like a normal boy around your age, nothing really sticking out at all."

Dan had however finally absorbed the last words of the voice's other statement, "Wait! YOU sent Al-queda after me?"

"Yes Dan. Back then, I realized you had ambitions for joining the military. I knew with your training from your friends that if you had joined your country's army in a future campaign against Al-Queda, that you'd be the strongest soldier, and you would even destroy their own leaders. With that knowledge, I tipped Al-queda in about you, and they sent in that girl Teresa to kill you, hoping to cover their own tracks, but things didn't go quite as planned, however I'm actually glad they didn't now that I've gotten to know you better."

As Dan listened to this, he realized, "So you're the one who gave him this gun, aren't you?" he referred to the tuba-like guns, both the broken one on his table, and the new one laying on the floor.

"Yes Dan, and it's not a tuba, it's actually a Concussion Pulse Gun1. Something that worked well in restraining powerful enemies with electromagnetic bolts. That's why you and your other friend were unable to move when that operative shot you." the voice explained.

"So then why me! Why try to kill me and then change your mind! Hell, who are you anyways!" Dan demanded.

"If you need my name... call me Oyatsu2. As for why I changed my mind about you: let's just say you have special powers within that make your friends look like party poppers. Also, your misgivings for Radditz and Heero have also left you vulnerable to my possession. Let's just say you shouldn't go petting creatures you don't know anything about." the voice replied.

Dan then growled, "So... that cat..."

The Voice cut in, "Was ME. YES DAN. The little kitty kitty was ME! I can change my shape and form as I please! I told you, I was much similar looking to a boy of your age on the plane. Then I took the form of an elderly woman when I tipped Al-queda about you, and then I recently was also a few animals, including the cat you pet. Your blacking out... that was me seeping into you."

Dan took all of this as calm as he could without going into a state of rage, "So exactly what do you want with the others?"

"The others. I want them out of the way, rather dead or alive. My master told me a long time ago to await a sign of supernatural proportions, a day when several realities would become one. On that day, I was to destroy the ones who would rise up from the aftermath, and you and your other friends the Misfits are among them. Oyatsu replied.

_Wait, he must be one of the dark forces Dusty kept saying was coming._ Dan thought to himself.

Oyatsu's voice picked up, "So Dusty somehow knows of us I see."

"What!" Dan cut in.

"Don't bother trying to hide your thoughts. I can see them as well. Heheh." Oyatsu chuckled.

"No matter. Just how do you expect to defeat all of my friends anyways! If you think I can defeat them all, you're sadly mistaken!" Dan replied.

"Hahaha... I'm quite aware of their origins and their powers Dan. Maybe on your OWN you might not be able to defeat them but with my help, taking down your friends, most of them anyways, will be a piece of cake! Oyatsu replied.

Now Dan chuckled, "Explain to me how I'm going to be able to take down a Super Saiya-jin 3, four Super Saiya-jin 2s, and two normal Super Saiya-jins, in addition to the others?"

"Simple, for one, there's not going to be any Super Saiya-jin, not 1, not 2, not 3, not anything else that might come after 3! Why you ask! Well, let's step outside and over to the nearby field, and I'll demonstrate." Oyatsu replied, as Dan noticed his body picking up into the air uncontrollably, and moving over to the field nearby on the other side of the road. He then sat down, and then he noticed his body kneeling into a meditative stance.

"Ah yes, I remember also your little bet with Piccolo. Such a pest he is, thinking you and all humankind are such weaklings." Oyatsu chuckled to Dan, "With my help, you could personally show him just how strong you really are!", but he then looked to the sky, and Dan could only wonder what was about to happen.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Sing along with me Dan! You're about to play a big role in the change of the future!" Dan tried to fight the urge to do this, however soon both Dan and Oyatsu's voices began to sing in unison, **"Heptae... capnae... ramtae... keltac... delruma... charnuu... reacay... durta... daru... ca... DURTY DURT DUR! I CURSE UPON ALL WITHIN FOUR DOZEN MILES... I CURSE UPON THEE ALL THAT THERE IS NO NEED FOR SUPER SAIYA-JINS!"** Dan's mouth then stopped, as he suddenly began to glow an immense white color, and then a large pillar of white energy shot up from his body and straight into the air.

Soon, the pillar erupted outwards, bathing Dan's entire neighborhood, and beyond, in a bright white light that made night into day, at least according to him.

"What... what the hell did I just do!" asked Dan.

"WE just placed a special curse upon all of your friends that will remove their ability to transform to Super Saiya-jins as long as the words 'DURTY DURT DUR3' are uttered by anyone within earshot of the affected. No matter how powerful, no matter how many levels they can go, if they can transform before, they can't do so for several hours after they hear those words. Basically if your friends try to transform, I or you can just utter it to revert them back to base form!"

"Damn... that is a devious power. But wouldn't this light make it so obvious that something's up!" Dan growled.

"The light is something only we can see, not them. It's an additional advantage for us within the area of the curse's affect. It both allows us to know where we can use the curse, and also to give us good vision at night."

"Alright, I admit it, it'd be good against Alex, Vernon, Clint, Jason and Radditz. But still, even without their Super Saiya-jin levels, Goku and Vegeta would kick your... our asses before we could do anything, not to mention how strong Piccolo, #17 and Buu are without a transformation." Dan replied.

"You think that's all I had set up for your pathetic friends, Dan? For shame. Go over back to your garage, and look inside the two yellow-coded capsules. You'll soon understand." Oyatsu explained, as Dan's body lifted up again and floated over back to his garage.

Dan willingly grabbed the pair of yellow-coated capsules, and unsealed them. The first capsule appeared to have two dozen tiny looking glasses lined up in a row, all with corks in them. The second one revealed a strange looking gun that Dan had never seen before. It looked relatively like a prototype, except that in the shaft near the front of the gun was a glowing green crystal that pulsed on and off.

"And exactly how are these going to help you defeat my friends anyways?" Dan asked, not getting the picture.

"Figures... only your friend Clint would probably know what that gun there really is, but anyways that weapon is a SHRINKING BLASTER4, as in a "oops, did I turn you into ants?" type of Shrinking Blaster. I noticed something from your winged friend named Nina. She has a special power that she's used on your two friends Alex and Vernon in the past, shrinking them to the size of mice. In this state, their powerlevels appear to be cut down by 90, making them extremely weakened. I was given blueprints by agents of my master, and created a much more potent version of her shrinking attack, in the form of a weapon. This little beaut will be able to shrink anyone it affects down to the size of ANTS, making them more than a thousand times weaker rather than only 10 times weaker. In other words, not even an ant-sized Goku or Vegeta would stand a chance against you Dan! Hell, I don't think an ant sized BUU could take you down!" Oyatsu laughed wickedly as he explained this.

Dan narrowed his eyes, looking at the glasses in front of him, "So then the glasses... they're for containing..."

"Your shrunken friends, and the corks will keep them from being able to hold enough air to do much more than maybe watch in helplessness. It won't quite KILL them alone, but my master won't care as long as they're neutralized and kept from interrupting his plans." Oyatsu explained.

"There's just one problem with all of this. Buu's much stronger than you realize, and Piccolo's nearly 33 stronger without his weighted clothing." Dan said, still not thinking Oyatsu's plan would fully work out.

"Yes... I now realize that. Buu's a little more of a tough case than any of the others. His strange magic structure might make the shrinker blaster useless on him entirely, however I got one other power that should stop EVEN him at FULL power. Oyatsu explained, as he used Dan's ki abilities to pick up one of the tiny glasses and levitate it over outside and into a nearby street, "I think I should give you a demonstration." Using Dan as his eyes, he moved Dan's head from side to side, and then narrowed them on a small rabbit around 40 feet away. He floated Dan's body over close to the dormant, and now uncorked glass.

Dan watched in horror as Oyatsu forced him to out stretch both of his hands forward at the rabbit. **"MAFUBA!"** screamed their combined voices, as Dan witnessed a green and vaporous energy snake out and hit the innocent rabbit, and watched as the rabbit began to distort and swirl around within the green field of energy several times, slowly getting smaller and smaller, until the vapors finally turned into an energy beam, which Dan forced down into the small glass at his feet. He then noticed Oyatsu making him cork the bottle, which now contained the helpless rabbit inside of it, tiny as a large fly.

Dan had realized of the move Oyatsu just made him use, "That's... that looked like that 'Evil Containment Wave' used in the early Dragonball series!" he gasped, feeling a slight bit drained, but unlike what he had heard about the Mafuba, he did not feel like he was about to die. It must've been because he was so strong he could survive using it.

"It's called the 'Mafuba', you simple-minded fool. Oyatsu chuckled back.

"But how!" Dan asked. "I guess it's only fitting I tell you a little more about myself. It'll help explain how I know the Mafuba." Oyatsu started, "You see, I know far more about Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo than you realize. I'm actually from THEIR part of the now-merged universe."

"You're from the Dragonball universe! I've never seen you before though!" Dan exclaimed.

"Well DUH, genius. I'm not on that poor excuse for a 'retelling' that your TV shows every few days, I'm someone NONE of those guys have any idea about! However I know a few of their own friends, or at least I used to." Oyatsu grumbled back, "Do you remember of a pair known as Oolong and Puar, Dan?"

"Wait, vaguely I remember them. They didn't get much screen time, and all that. One was a pig, and the other I think was a floating cat-thingy." Dan recalled.

"Sigh... close enough. Puar and Oolong went to the same shapeshifting academy as I did. I used to know both. However Oolong was an idiot. He got kicked out for stealing a girl teacher's panties, and he never mastered his shapeshifting powers. Puar on the other hand... she had potential, but she5 stopped too soon. Whereas I went beyond their level of knowledge, and even more. I was witness to many a battle on their world, even got to know Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo well enough, and it was through witnessing the Piccolo Damiaou ordeal and the 23rd Budokai that I learned how to use the Mafuba. I know Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo almost as good as they know themselves, and I know their deepest fears and weaknesses!"

"And Buu and #17?" asked Dan.

"Buu's going to be the ultimate example of the Mafuba's true potential. Screw Piccolo's so called 'counter-Mafuba'! He might be able to counter it, but he's the only one who could. Buu has no way of doing so! As for #17, he might be unique, but he is still human to an extent. The shrinker blaster will do fine for dealing with him."

"Still, that doesn't explain why use ME to do all of your dirty work!" Dan asked indignantly.

"Because, first off, they won't initially expect one of their own to turn on them, least of all you. Remember, Piccolo and them are more concerned that RADDITZ will turn on them, than someone like you." Dan then sulked in realization, as Oyatsu continued speaking, "Secondly, you're currently vulnerable to being possessed by me, even if it's not 100. Third, as I said, you have powers of your own you don't yet realize. In fact, it's time I revealed one of them to you!

Dan suddenly felt his power boiling up from within, and he looked into the mirror as he saw a flare of golden energy surrounding him, along with a faint pulse of yellow in his nearly shaved hair. "No way! That can't be right!" Dan said in horror, as he watched his ki aura become a solid gold, and then his hair fully transform to gold, standing up like needles, and his eyes turquoise. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous! I had to be seeing things!" Dan growled.

"That is not an illusion Dan. You see, you too have SOME amount of Saiya-jin blood. I'll admit, there's not much, nothing close to even that of a half-breed, but it includes the Super Saiya-jin gene that all Saiya-jin possess. Therefore... well you can see it with your own two eyes!" Dan heard the shapeshifter speak, as he gaped at his new power in awe, "Additionally, you're a little more powerful still than you would be without my presence. You could say I'm forcing some of your hidden power to the surface6. Not all of it, as even I don't have that kind of mastery, but with all of this, it should be more than enough to take out those putrid Saiya-jin, and the rest of the weakling Misfits you call 'friends'!"

"Wait! That curse of yours! This means it never worked!" Dan smirked.

"I said anyone who ALREADY could transform will be unable to transform when the curse is affecting them. However you're unaffected since I forced your transformation out AFTER I invoked the curse. I did that intentionally in order to prevent your friends from using it against us. You see Dan, I don't like to lose... so sorry for any trouble you're about to endure, but frankly I don't give a damn anymore!" Oyatsu cackled, erasing the smirk on Dan's face. Dan suddenly felt a surge of pain in his head, both physically and mentally.

"Now Dan! It's time I try exercising my FULL powers on you! Nighty night trooper! Oyatsu said, as Dan's mind blanked out and was pushed to the dormant position. Oyatsu smiled as he know realized he had full possession of Dan's body.

"Yes! YES! Soon master! Soon I will rid you of these troublesome knats!" he chuckled, although now his voice sounded just like Dan's own, as the dormant laughter faded into the night...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 5:20am; Canton, Ohio)

Radditz had been practicing early on his training grounds that morning, wanting to get in his extra training ahead of time due to the limited hours provided by the fact he now had his job at McDonalds. Radditz had quickly learned that Neil had more knowledge on him than he had realized. Apparently he had watched the 'Dragonball' series as avidly as Alex and Devin had, and after some explanations, Neil had learned that Radditz had been planting a sensu plant, and also explained of the growth in Alex, Devin and the other CSHS Misfits' strength over the recent two weeks. Radditz had even tried to offer Neil training, but Neil explained that his schedule was a lot more packed than theirs, and he was unable to take up training for now.

As Radditz continued a special lonely kata of his, he was not totally aware that he had company approaching from the eastern direction, until he had seen the figure of Dan flying in at a leisurely pace towards him. _Dan's up at this hour? He's usually one of the late trainers. Maybe he's trying to make up for lost time by getting here earlier._

Dan landed softly a few yards from Radditz, as the taller Saiya-jin looked over at Dan. However although he did not realize it, he was not looking at Dan, but Oyatsu, who was still in possession of Dan's body. Also, he appeared to be wearing a new outfit, a type of shiny and reflective black overcoat which while dazzling to the eyes, didn't look much like something one would normally train in. Oyatsu was also sporting a very dark shade of sunglasses.

"Welcome. Odd outfit there Dan." Radditz greeted.

Oyatsu chuckled, "Hey there, what're you doing here so early?"

"My job doesn't exactly give me as much time to train the way I'm used to, so I'm getting up earlier." Radditz explained, almost wondering if he should've bothered telling Dan. _Shouldn't he have figured this out himself?_ Radditz thought.

Oyatsu smiled at Radditz, "Good, perfect. I need a good early morning spar."

"Dan, what're you doing here so early anyways?" Radditz asked him.

"Exactly as I said Radditz, I need a good wake up exercise, and Teresa's not ready to fight me at full power, so I figured since you're here..." Oyatsu replied, still mostly acting much as Dan would, "Why don't you take out your scouter and scan me a moment?"

Radditz looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "If you say so."

_Perfect. Once he starts taking my powerlevel, I'll powerup and cause it to explode! In case I don't succeed today, at least that long-haired asshole won't have a scouter anymore!_ Oyatsu thought to himself.

Radditz put the scouter on his eye and clicked the button. His eyes widened slightly.

"38,250? That's a very large jump from yesterday!" Radditz exclaimed, "Dan, what kinda training did Dusty's group give you two!"

"It wasn't Dusty's training that did this Radditz, trust me, Dusty's training wouldn't allow me to do THIS." he exclaimed, as he suddenly transformed to Super Saiya-jin in front of Radditz's eyes. Radditz's eyes bugged out, both at Dan's change, and at the reading on the scouter, which had already climbed over 320,000. However as to Oyatsu's expectations, Dan's powerup caused Radditz's scouter to top out at 352,000 before the scouter beeped and exploded, destroying the piece of scanning technology.

"Dan what the hell are you doing! You just broke my scouter! Wait a minute! This thing blew up at 352,000 and not 240,000 like I thought! Holy shit! What kinda scouter was this thing!" he then remembered, "And how did you managed to become... become a Super Saiya-jin! God damn it, you're Saiya-jin too!"

"Yes, apparently only a tiny bit, but enough to possess the transformation gene." Oyatsu explained, a small hint of a smirk on his face, "Oh sorry about the scouter, I didn't think my powerup would actually destroy that thing. I must've gotten stronger than I thought." he then said, as if it were a mistake.

"Well, I guess it's not a huge deal... but why the hell did it go all the way to 352,000 before it exploded?7" Radditz replied.

Oyatsu then replied as-if, "Because apparently you've forgotten the real limits of a red scouter. They've always climbed to 352,000 before they explode. Too bad you didn't have an Overclocked scouter, or that wouldn't have happened."

"I guess not but... WAIT! Just how in the blue hell did you know about the Overclocked scouters! Those were only starting to be developed long back when Vegeta, Nappa and I finally tried to challenge Frieza's power, and even then, only a Green overclocked had been developed before Kakarott sent the Planet Trade into ruin!" Radditz then bellowed in disbelief.

Oyatsu reached into his pocket, as he discarded his sunglasses, and he pulled out another scouter, this one with a blue lens, and the ear piece of the scouter had a strange insignia on the side that had never been seen on a scouter on the show before, and the normally white shell seemed painted with blue stripes matching in color to the lens.

Radditz's eyes bugged out, "That's it... that's an overclocked scouter! A blue one much like Nappa's rare one8! That old one of his could've probably have seen Frieza's true powerlevel at his 100 state back in those days! But how the hell did you get one of those!"

Oyatsu didn't really reply directly at him, but it still made Radditz's blood chill slightly, "596,700... about what I had expected from the transformation", and he then pointed it at Radditz, "81,600 for you as you are now."

Radditz narrowed an eye slightly at Dan, as he wondered, _His ki feels slightly diluted, as if something has intoxicated him or something. I'd better watch out._

Oyatsu however spoke up again, "Radditz, let's test this little thing. Try going Super Saiya-jin yourself. I wanna see what it'll say!"

Radditz sighed, and quickly transformed, releasing all of the extra power loose. "1,055,000 degrees. Impressive Radditz."

Radditz smirked, temporarily forgetting his worry in awe of his powerlevel, "Over a million huh? I guess those scouters really are improved."

Oyatsu's smirk turned to a neutral expression, _ It's time to see if this curse is truly as effective as it should be!_ He then smiled, "Well you know what they say." he spoke up.

Radditz looked at him, totally lost to what he was cluing at, "Uh well, what do they say?"

"Durty Durt Dur!" Oyatsu called over, making sure it was loud enough for Radditz to hear.

"Durty Durt Dur?" Radditz replied in confusion, and Oyatsu smirked, realizing now there was no way he hadn't heard it. Even if someone said it to themselves it would invoke the curse on that person.

Radditz suddenly felt a strange sensation, as he began to see his ki aura flicker quickly from orangish-yellow back to blue. His hair reverted from gold to black in an eyebeat, as did his eyes back to black from turquoise. A strange sputtering sound, much like a fart emitted from his ki aura as Radditz suddenly found himself reverted to base form.

"What the hell?" Radditz grumbled, as he attempted to transform back to Super Saiya-jin, but his ki aura only flashed to a healthy-blue with sputtering fart noises accompanying it.

"Dan, do you know what the hell just happened!" Radditz asked, noticing that Dan was still transformed, much to Oyatsu's delight.

_ YES. YES YES YES YES YES! IT WORKS PERFECTLY!_ he thought to himself, as he flashed a horribly evil smirk at Radditz. Radditz, chilled to the bone, looked at Dan nervously, as he recognized something slightly more sinister to his ki.

"Dan, are you alright!" Radditz asked.

However he was not answered by a comment, but by a violent blow to his stomach, sending him flying back several yards and smashing through a nearby tree and uprooting it. Radditz collided with the ground painfully, badly knocked for a loop.

Oyatsu quickly dashed over and stood above Radditz, "Yes Radditz! I must say I am extremely well! My curse worked! You can't become a Super Saiya-jin now for 12 hours!"

"Dan, what the hell are you doing!" Radditz coughed, hacking a small amount of blood.

Oyatsu reached down and grabbed Radditz by his hair and pulled his face to level with his own, "Sorry if I hurt you a bit too much Radditz, it's just you've not exactly gotten on my good side today." he spoke with a sinister grin, "And yes, my ki has changed much as you believed. Call it sinister if you wish, but you're the one who's been hiding too much from us!"

"How did you know I noticed the change!" Radditz spoke with widened eyes,

"I can read some of your thoughts now within a distance of me. As for the scouter, if you must really know... it was a gift, one of MANY gifts from my new friend!" Oyatsu said. Believing he had hurt Radditz enough, had lowered his powerlevel to only 20 in the case someone else might head over his way, in order to partially conceal it.

However Radditz had noticed this and suddenly unleashed a powerful Double Sunday in his face at point blank rage. Oyatsu was smacked back about 20 feet from the large pushback of the blast. Although he had not felt much more than a small rock's throw from the blast, he had failed to noticed a capsule had been knocked out of his overcoat.

Oyatsu smirked, "So you're gonna be rough today, eh Radditz? Fine by me!" he said, as he made Dan's green eyes suddenly shift to a terrifying orange which made Radditz lose his composure. Oyatsu quickly dashed in and kicked Radditz in his stomach, cracking the front of his armor, although not enough to totally destroy it, and sent Radditz hurtling over 50 yards away, where his body tore into the ground, and left a small trench dug up. Radditz had barely been able to keep conscious from that kick alone.

_How... how the hell... did he make my Super Saiya-jin powers vanish! What's making him do this!_ Oyatsu smirked, his eyes Dan's usual green again, "The curse I mentioned... it removes anyone's ability to transform to any level of Super Saiya-jin at the mention of the words 'Durty Durt Dur'."

"Then how the hell are you still transformed?" asked Radditz.

"Because hot-shot... I must make a confession, I am Dan... somewhat Dan... but Dan is not currently available to speak with. Let's just say I've kicked his consciousness off the top of the hill for now! I found out about Dan's Saiya-jin gene, and managed to unearth his transformation AFTER the fact that we invoked the curse, which makes us IMMUNE!" Oyatsu replied, as he pulled out the Shrinker Blaster from the capsule in the left side of his overcoat, "Sorry Radditz, no hard feelings, but since you were on Dan's mind, I realized I should get rid of you and that pesky scouter of yours first!" and he pulled the trigger, covering Radditz in a green, laser-like beam that caused him to quickly diminish in size, down until he was only the size of an ant.

Oyatsu looked at him through the overclocked blue scouter on his eye, "Powerlevel 72.4. For a gnat, that's super-strong, but against me, that's nothing!" Oyatsu cackled, as he focused his newly found mental powers from Dan to grip Radditz and lift him into the air. Too injured to attempt a struggle, Radditz soon found himself falling into a tiny jar which was quickly corked from above.

Oyatsu stuck the tiny bottle in his overcoat and laughed, "There we go! One down, seventeen more idiots to go!" he sang to himself, as he wondered who to make a move at next. His gut instinct told him that he should probably go after someone strong next, as he had the feeling there was going to be SOMEONE coming towards him to see what the hell was going on. He realized that maybe he should move to a nearby field and wait for the next foolish Misfit to come his way...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 5:15am; Canton, Ohio)

Back up at Alex's house, Alex had earlier gone back outside to prepare for Goku and Vegeta, as well as Vernon and Jason's arrival. However while he did see Goku and Vegeta come out, he had noticed Jason and Vernon were late.

Goku walked over to Alex, "Hey Alex, we're going to head off on free-lance training today. You are free to do what you want. I think you three deserve at least a small break from having us coddle you all the time for your achievements."

Alex grumbled, "If you say so Goku. Is that why Vernon and Jason aren't here?"

"Yes brat, we called them in early today to let them know they didn't need to come here. You live next door, so we decided to tell you here in person. Now go off and do whatever you need. We're not going to be here today." Vegeta replied, and Alex sulked as he saw Goku and Vegeta fly off into the distance.

Although he could tell _Little bastards are probably heading to the abandoned arena to train each other. Figures._ Alex decided he would just rest off the day, and do some low-level training, such as running around his house in laps, in order to compare himself now to what he could've done back during the week of the 3rd.

As he ran around, he realized just how bored he was that day. "This sucks! I wonder where Jason and Vernon went off to? We should go and train each other if Goku and Vegeta are gonna pull that shit on us!" Alex growled.

However his senses soon picked up something, someone was coming his way, and the powerlevel was stronger than his Super Saiya-jin 2 powerlevel, but it wasn't Piccolo, Buu, #17, or even Goku or Vegeta returning to see him.

He then raised his eyebrows, "Nevermind... now I remember. That's Paula's ki. Why's she coming here though? I thought she was doing some kind of thing of her own or something." Sure enough, Alex soon was able to make out Paula's flying figure incoming towards him at a moderate speed, at least to him.

She then stopped near his yard and landed over at Goku and Vegeta's house.

Alex looked over to her, "They're not home right now Paula!"

Paula looked over to Alex a bit startled, "Figures I'd miss them, but why're you still here?"

"Goku and Vegeta are having us all train free-lance today. I think those two just wanna train with each other without us in the way though." Alex replied, a bit annoyed at the two Saiya-jin in question.

"Then why aren't Vernon and Jason here?" Paula replied.

Alex sighed, "Good question. Both of them must be training each other away from me to keep me from getting stronger." he then ended with a jealous growl.

Paula sensed out with her own ki detection, "No... Vernon's over by Canton South High, and Jason's back at his own home, or wherever he is when he's idle."

Alex sensed out as well, and found she was right, and he sweatdropped, "Oh... they must be sitting today out, bunch of lazy-asses." He then looked to her, "Exactly why are you here though?"

Paula looked over to him, "Nina's not at her house, and she seems far off from here, not at the place we usually meet." Paula replied truthfully, although not to the point she was totally blunt about her own training. She didn't want Nina to get mad at her, but she didn't want to lie either, "I was actually wanting to see Goku before he ran off, but I guess I didn't get here soon enough."

However she suddenly perked up as she looked to Alex, "Hey Alex, you wanna spar with me?"

On the outside Alex's expression didn't change, but inside, he grew slightly worried. He felt too odd about fighting girls for some reason. It wasn't out of sexism or any of that, as he had many favorite women fighters in video games, but because it just didn't feel right.

He was about to just truthfully decline her offer, when Paula looked southward with a strange gaze, and spoke up "Wait! Hold that thought. Something feels off down about 1/4 of a mile from here! I think it's at Dan, Radditz and Teresa's training spot. Radditz's ki... it just vanished, and Dan's has spiked a good deal. It's higher than yours as a normal Super Saiya-jin even!"

Alex suddenly perked up, "Really? Dan's ki? How is that possible? And you say Radditz's ki vanished?"

"Well, it spiked as well, a little bit less than your Super Saiya-jin 2 level, but then it suddenly dropped to normal, and then his ki felt like it shrank down to nothing." Paula explained.

Alex looked over south, and he realized, "Dammit! You're right, I don't sense him at all, and I actually feel something slightly off about Dan's own ki." Alex replied.

Paula looked back a bit, "Yeah, I was about to say that. At least you're not slacking off with ki sense."

"Of course not!" Alex boasted pridefully, "But you think we should check it out?"

Paula sweatdropped and nearly facefaulted at the rather dumb-sounding question Alex asked, but she shrugged it off, "Yeah, I think we should." Alex quickly lifted to the air and shot off southward in a ball of ki. Paula jumped to the air and sped off in the same direction, right behind Alex.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 5:22am; Canton, Ohio)

Oyatsu's ki sense suddenly snapped to life, as he looked northward. As he attuned his senses, he soon discerned the signatures. _ Aha! I sense a weak ki and a medium level one! I think one of them's Alex... and yes! The other one is the girl named Paula. They're both heading right for here!_

He then tapped the button on his scouter and pointed it in the direction he was sensing Paula and Alex from. One of the numbers read out to be 28,075, which Oyatsu was assuming to be Alex in his base level, and the second number read out at 2,060,000, which he figured was Paula's. Oyatsu grumbled, _ Paula's gonna be priority one in this situation. She could kick my ass even in Super Saiya-jin form as she is now, but if I can get her with the shrinking blaster, she should be easy prey. Alex I don't need to worry about so much as long as I can affect him with the curse before he can attack me. They might or might not be suspicious, but I should still have the benefit of the doubt behind me right now._ he thought in his head.

Within about 15 to 20 more seconds, Alex and then Paula had become visible to Oyatsu's eyes, as they spotted Dan standing in the field, looking calm as a rock. The two weary Misfits landed about 20 yards away from him, and looked over.

"Dan! You okay!" Alex called over, "We sensed Radditz's ki vanish, and yours spiked! Did someone attack you?"

Although Alex was not aware of the true nature of Oyatsu, he was not telling a complete truth. He knew already that there had been no other kis near either Dan or Radditz. Oyatsu then had a devious idea play into his head, as he looked over at them, "Yes I was attacked! In fact, it was Radditz who attacked me! It turns out Piccolo was right after all." He noticed Alex and Paula walk in another 10 yards towards him.

Although he knew he could make a move on them now, he was weary of Paula due to the fact her higher powerlevel allowed her to dodge from a closer range than Alex could. He wanted her almost within arms distance before attempting to shrink her.

"Where is Radditz anyways!" Paula called over, not totally convinced, although she did remember Piccolo grumbling about Radditz's true allegiance a couple of times before, so she couldn't totally rule it out.

"I'm... sorry, I had to kill him. He transformed to Super Saiya-jin, and I had to transform in a desperate attempt to hold him off." Dan explained.

Alex walked over another 4 yards and growled, "Dammit, so that's why your power spiked, and it must also explain the difference in your ki as well." Alex replied, having known that Radditz wasn't the most truthworthy soul according to the show, and misguessed the malignance in Dan's ki to be that of the anger caused by using early Super Saiya-jin transformations.

Paula however was still weary of Dan's claim, "Where is his body Dan? I don't see him anywhere." she replied, looking around. Oyatsu almost decided to pull his shrinker blaster on her right then and there, but he knew the sound it made would ruin his surprise attack.

He thought over quickly and replied, "Uh, his body vanished! I think Emna-Daiou decided to make sure his body and soul were sent back to Hell!"

Alex walked in closer, almost right up to just out of arms reach of Dan, and Paula moved in a little closer now too, although she didn't come more than another 2 yards closer.

_ Come on you little bitch, get closer! You're too far away!_ Oyatsu growled mentally. However he was not prepared for the fact he had just ruined his surprise attack. Paula's own stray telepathic powers were close enough that she heard his last thoughts loud and clear, and she had also been able to tell it was NOT Dan's thoughts she had heard.

_Crap! What's going on?_ she thought to herself. She then heard a mental voice in her head _/You idiots! Don't get any closer to him/_ it had said. Paula realized this was actually Radditz's own voice, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was speaking from.

Paula's expression stiffened, and she growled mentally, as she suddenly zanzokened at Dan. Oyatsu had not been able to pick up on her realization until it had been too late to react. His eyes' nearly popped from his head as he Paula deal him an incredible blow to the chest which sent him careening over 100 yards away, until Oyatsu's body smashed into a nearby tree, and smashing it over.

Alex suddenly saw Paula reappear in a punching position where Dan had been standing and went agape in shock, "Paula what the hell did you do that for!"

"That's not the Dan we all know, Alex. This guy is different." she spoke up with a fierce voice, looking over to Oyatsu's crumbled body near the collapsed tree.

"Whaddya mean not the Dan we know!" Alex demanded.

"He's lying to us! Radditz never attacked him. Dan apparently attacked him INSTEAD, as I had been suspecting." Paula replied, as she looked over at Oyatsu and zanzokened in close to him, "Who are you? What've you done with Dan!"

Oyatsu went agape, "How the hell did you know!" and then he had only then realized it, "SHIT! You can read minds too, you nosy bitch!"

"Bingo." Paula flatly replied, "Now out with it." she growled, as Alex had flown in close behind her.

"Hahahaha... Durty Durt Dur to you, suckers!" Oyatsu called off, as he unexpectedly jumped up and belted the unprepared Alex in the face, sending him flying about 30 yards away, causing him to dig into the ground and leave a trench.

Alex growled in pain, and flipped up, "YOU FUCKING FAG! WHOEVER YOU ARE, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" as he attempted to transform to Super Saiya-jin 2, however as Alex attempted to concentrate, all he got aside from a slight powerup was a sputtering fart noise emitting from his aura.

"What the fuck! I'm not changing! What the fuck!" Alex growled.

"No Super Saiya-jin, 1 or 2, for you little man!" Oyatsu growled and raspberried him.

Paula was astounded, "This is your work, isn't it!" she growled at Oyatsu.

"Hahaha! The curse works even on those who aren't already in a transformed state when they get affected!" Oyatsu replied back.

Alex growled over at Oyatsu, his anger at not being able to transform and because of this so called 'curse' apparent on his face. "Fuck it! I don't need Super Saiya-jin to kick your ass anyways!" he growled.

Paula looked over at Alex desperately, "Alex!" But Alex had already jumped up and charged at Oyatsu, his feral rage overcoming every rational attempt to make him back off.

Oyatsu cackled, "You're making me take you down in the wrong order, but oh well!" as he quickly unsheathed the shrinker blaster and shot at Alex, hitting him square on in the middle of his blind charge, causing Alex to quickly shrink down to the size of an ant.

Paula gasped in horror as she realized, _Alex's powerlevel's dropping severely! That's why Radditz's strength dropped so fast! He must've got shrunken just like Alex is! I gotta keep that thing from shooting me!_ she thought as she zanzokened and kicked Oyatsu straight in his back, causing him to fly forward, and drop the shrinking blaster in mid fall. Paula growled and darted in with a second kick to the stomach which sent Oyatsu straight up into the air.

However, Oyatsu, despite his pain, was still able to keep some of his composure, and he realized Paula was moving far quicker than he realized. He knew a direct assault with the blaster would be useless, until had suddenly had an ingenious idea. Letting himself fly further upwards, he pretended that he was still not in control of his ascent, as Paula followed him upwards. He suddenly pulled his sunglasses back out of the overcoat and put them on. Paula had not seen in close enough to realize this, else she may have been able to realize what Oyatsu's plan had been as she flew in closer.

Oyatsu saw her fast approaching, and fanned his hands over his eyes, "Block this you bitch! TAIYOKEN!9"

Paula squinted, and then screamed out in pain as she suddenly saw a blinding flash overcome her vision. She still sensed Oyatsu, but the pain in her eyes was keeping her from making too many sudden movements.

_Darn him! I can't believe he knew how to do that!_ she mentally screamed.

Oyatsu dashed back to the ground and quickly grabbed the Shrinker Blaster. And he flew up at Paula. Not realizing he had so quickly recovered the gun, she was helpless to dodge the laser of shrinking energy, not being made from any kind of sensable energy, and she growled as she realized she had been hit, and quickly flew in a random direction as she had shrunk down to the size on an ant. She had managed to regain her vision, but she knew there wasn't much she could do. Her powerlevel was extremely weak now, even against Oyatsu.

Although she might have been in a rut, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She jumped up and appeared right in Oyatsu's face, firing off a large artic blast of PK Freeze in his face. However the 'large' blast was also affected by her new sized and was now barely more than a small gust of air that could emit from a person's nostrils.

Oyatsu chuckled and quickly swung his hand and smacked Paula's tiny form to the ground, rendering her unconscious before she even hit the ground, "That tickles!"

Reactivating his new scouter, Oyatsu had sensed Alex and then Paula's new powerlevels. "24.9 and 1,828.8... again, for ants, that's probably strong and even godly, but even Paula's new powerlevel wouldn't tickle me in base!" he laughed, as he soon used his own telekinetic powers to grab tightly onto the shrunken Paula and Alex, the latter of which was still conscious, and cursing like a waterfall as Oyatsu pulled out another glass and uncorked it.

"Might as well put these two fools in there together. It'll save me some bottles! Hahahah!" Oyatsu then placed both of his defeated adversaries in the bottle, and then sheathed the bottle and the shrink ray back into his overcoat.

He laughed to himself. "Yes! That's three down, 15 more to go!" He then decided to look around, and think over his strategy.

"Of course, this has to make the rest of those Misfits very cautious. I doubt they're going to just let me have any benefit of the doubt now. Oh well. It might make good use to go after some of them before they can react!" As he sensed around, he felt the closest group of kis happened to be gathering near the vacant lot across from Devin's house.

"Ah, that fat bastard Devin and his little gang!" He then pointed his scouter in their location. He got about six or seven ki readings. One was around 19,250, another was 19,150, a third was 15,325, a fourth around 17,500, a fifth was around 18,750, a sixth was 25,100, and a seventh was 25,125. "Hahaha! A cluster of weaklings! Even the one of them that could transform is unable to! At least, he will once the curse is invoked on him as well! Bwahaha! Time to net me seven more suckers!" Oyatsu cackled as he picked up to the air and flew off at high speed, unaware that a capsule of his was still lying in the field, unaccounted for...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 5:56am; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, about a mile or two south of Devin's vacant lot, Heero was grumbling as he ran around the immediate area, decked out in level 4 training clothes, with Virgil on his tail, wearing level 4 training clothing of his own, and wielding the large specially-weighted mallet that Devin gave him the other day. Heero was mad at Devin for making him take over Virgil's training for the day. Devin had claimed he wanted to try to get in some more training with Clint and the others, and that he needed a break from the annoyance that Virgil caused.

It was only now that Heero was beginning to realize just why Devin had some misgivings towards Virgil. Although Heero had not been prank-called on the 10th like Devin, Virgil had his own ways of getting to Heero. He had the tendency to swing the mallet to the ground way too often, and the tremors and the loud booms were giving the former-Gundam pilot a serious headache. The worst part about it was that Heero, like Devin, was not allowed to actually retaliate at Virgil, and only dodge his attempts. Heero tried a couple times while waiting on Virgil to recover to concentrate some ki into doing a Kamehameha or a Soukidan like Clint or Jason's, but Virgil was recovering faster than Heero could focus for a good shot.

Virgil was getting better at his movement, to say the least, and much to Alex's great surprise, he had actually lost 4 pounds in the last couple of days, although Alex commented to him at McDonalds the day before that his appetite was going to quickly negate that, which caused Virgil to call him a trashcan, which had made little sense to any of the others. Devin had even ratted on him about how he had no sensibility when it came to trying to attack a much stronger or faster opponent, which had gotten him compared to Alex, who growled venomously at Devin for that comment. Heero was thinking about turning back and dumping Virgil back on Devin's hands for the remainder of the day, but he suddenly felt a strong energy, at least stronger compared to himself and Virgil, coming in his direction from the south.

His eyes then narrowed, "Dan's ki. He must be coming to the others for more training or something. I don't sense Radditz down at the field they usually both go, but where's Teresa? She was with Dan when they arrived yesterday."

He then realized something, "Wait, why is his energy so large compared to last night!"

He looked over to Virgil, and called, "Virgil, just run around for a bit. I need to take care of something!"

Virgil shrugged to himself, "Whatever then." as he started to smash the mallet into stationary objects of no interest.

Heero flew up into the air and flew off towards Dan's ki energy. Soon he managed to get a glimpse of Dan, and noticed his aura was gold, much like Alex, Jason, Vernon, Goku and Vegeta's were when they were 'Super Saiya-jins' or whatever.

"Is he one of those Saiya-jin too!" Heero said to himself, as he shot off to intercept Dan.

However as he got close, Oyatsu suddenly saw him and flew towards him. _ BINGO! Heero's coming right at me! He's a sitting duck!_ Heero had little time react as Oyatsu decided to skip deception this time and quickly axehandled Heero from behind and sent him plowing down into the ground.

Heero smashed into the ground and flipped over painfully. Although he was still conscious, his body was almost broken up from Oyatsu's attack. The shapeshifter quickly pulled out the Shrinking Blaster and shot Heero, causing him to shrink down to the size of an ant.

"Powerlevel 15.5 and dropping slightly. No contest!" he cackled and levitated Heero into the air, but he had not been paying complete attention.

**SMASH** Oyatsu's concentration was lost as he felt a slight force hit him right in the head. He looked up, noticing a dented in mallet had rested itself on his head, and Virgil had been floating above him, trying to smash the shapeshifter unconscious while focusing on Heero.

"Bad Virgil, BAD!" he chuckled at the fatter Misfit. Virgil growled, but Oyatsu zanzokened behind Virgil and smashed him across the head, sending him flying to the ground as he had Heero.

Virgil had lost consciousness after cratering, and Oyatsu quickly shrunk him down as well, not even bothering to take his powerlevel. "How ironic two more of them happened to be separate from the other five." Oyatsu concentrated and telekinetically lifted both the ant-sized Virgil and Heero, and pulled out another empty, uncorked bottle, and placed the two inside of it.

Corking the bottle, he quickly hid it out of sight as well. "Five down, thirteen more losers to go." he chuckled, and flew off closer north, to continue his evil mission.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 6:02am; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, at the vacant lot near Devin's house, both Clint and Devin had not been slouching. Devin had been keeping tabs on all of the energy changes in Dan, Alex, Radditz, Paula, Heero and even Virgil. The evidence he had been getting was suggesting that Dan was attacking or subduing the others for some unknown reason. He had asked Clint to powerup to his Super Saiya-jin level, while he made a quick beeline into his house and picked up a phone, and called Vernon's house, sensing he was still there.

As he had hoped, Vernon's voice picked up, "Hello?"

"Vernon, it's me. Listen, we've got what might be a big problem heading in our direction." Devin replied.

"What's wrong Devin?"

"I think Dan is attacking us one or two at a time. Radditz first appeared to vanish from my ki sense, and a few minutes later so did both Alex and Paula, and then just a couple of minutes ago Heero and then Virgil vanished." Devin explained.

"You say you think it's Dan? Why?" Vernon asked.

"For one, his energy has spiked intensely. Stronger than Clint's while he's in his Super Saiya-jin level, and two, his ki feels just a little bit tainted. I think you and Jason's help will be much appreciated. I think he's still at his place, so go grab him on the way down here if you could." Devin replied.

Vernon nodded to him, "Alright then Devin. I'd better transform to 2 on the way down here and have Jason do similar. If Dan is going after us, try not to attack him directly if he confronts you. I don't think you guys would be able to take him unless you were all still grouped and had Heero and Virgil with you."

"Well we'll have little choice if he decides to go after us, which I'm sure he will. Just hurry Vernon, because I got a bad feeling about this."

"See you in a bit." Vernon replied, and quickly slammed the receiver.

Devin sighed, and sensed out. Dan was just about to the lot, and he had no idea what to expect, so he quickly rushed back out and regrouped with Clint, who had also rounded up Dwayne, Steve and Dusty nearby. Dusty was astonished to hear that Dan might be attacking the others, and Dwayne and Steve put their guards up.

Devin called out, "I've called Vernon. He and Jason will be heading here to back us up. Let's just try to keep Dan held off until he does. If I remember, he can't sense powerlevels yet, so he shouldn't notice them coming." Clint nodded, now transformed at his Super Saiya-jin like level.

Oyatsu was now coming within visual range of the vacant lot. He had furrowed his eyes, having sensed that Clint's powerlevel had risen a large amount. He aimed his scouter in the direction of Clint's energy, getting around 348,240 for his new powerlevel.

He then realized, _ Damn. I forgot, Devin can sense ki, and I think Clint can too! One of those two bastards must've been closely monitoring my actions. That means I'll have to immediately invoke the curse. Although Clint's powerlevel even now is less than mine, he's close enough that he could pull something, and I'd rather not take a risk, especially since I lost about 100,000 degrees from my injuries from Paula._

It was then however that his scouter chimed erratically. _SHIT! Two other powerlevels coming from the northeast! 1,362,000 and 1,264,300!_

He sensed in the direction of the two powerlevels. _Shit! Damn that Devin! He called out for Jason and Vernon ahead of me! They're on a quick beeline here! I'll need to be fast, else I'll have to invoke the curse twice in one battle, and I'm still not fully healed from Paula's attack on me earlier. I should've tried to find a sensu bean first!_ Soon, he spotted the five targets he had originally came to find, and he quickly landed to the field below, standing now right in front of the five he had come to take.

"Dan, what're you doing here?" asked Dusty, wisely deciding to ask him questions to stall him. Oyatsu grumbled, realizing at this point Dan's consciousness was starting to struggle. It probably realized Dusty was one of the next targets and was trying to win back some control to warn him.

Oyatsu smirked, "You guys wouldn't mind a nice and relaxing spar, now would you?"

Devin grumbled, not in the mood to totally play games, "Out with it Dan. Why is it everyone you're running into suddenly 'disappears'?"

"Hmmm... Well for Radditz, he attacked me. Turns out Piccolo's little suspicions were right from the beginning. I was forced to deal with him because he attacked me at the field." he lied intentionally, just to get Devin annoyed, which had worked.

"Cut the shit Dan! I know better! You went to him, and you attacked him! Where is he, and what did you do with Alex, Paula, Heero and Virgil!" Devin growled.

"They're right here." Oyatsu smirked, patting his overcoat, "As will all five of you soon enough!" he then quickly pulled out the Shrinker Blaster and shot a green laser at Dwayne, but Steve shoved him out of the way, thinking it was something like the tuba-gun at Canton South.

Dwayne watched in shock as Steve was quickly shrunk down to the size of an ant. Dusty, Clint and Devin also looked on in shock.

Then Clint's eyes bore a look of realization, _SHIT! I recognize that gun! That's why he's been taking us down so easily! He must've taken lessons from Nina that shrinking someone weakens their powerlevel!_ He spoke low to the others, "Devin, Dusty, Dwayne, I need your help. I think I can stop him, but I need you to distract him for me, and try to protect Stone Cold! Dan could kill him easily in his current state!"

Oyatsu grumbled, "Making a plan? I hope you're ready to be disappointed, and Durty Durt Dur to you!" Devin, Dwayne and Dusty gaped on in shock as Clint's powerlevel had quickly dropped over half. His hair had darkened several shades, and his aura was now a strange dark teal color, with fart noises coming out of his aura.

"What the hell!" Clint explained, realizing he couldn't fully powerup to Super Saiya-jin now.

"Idiot! You can't transform for 12 hours now!" Oyatsu cackled, and quickly jumped at Clint and slugged him back into a nearby ditch, causing Clint to tumble backwards for a few seconds.

Oyatsu however had not fully reduced Clint's powerlevel, as it was still reading at roughly 124,000 according to his scouter, "What in the blue hell! His powerlevel's still over 100,000 degrees above what it should be!"

Devin then realized something from hearing this comment, and had managed to see the scouter on Dan's eye, "Where the hell did you get that scouter! That's not the one Radditz had!"

"A gift of mine from a friend!" he said, and charged forward at Devin. However Devin jumped back and Dusty and Dwayne simultaneously kicked Oyatsu in the chest as he flew back, but they only knocked him back 2 inches, and he quickly smashed Dwayne across the face, and then teleported behind him, and smashed him in the back, causing him to embed into the ground.

Oyatsu pulled the Shrinking blaster out again, and shot at Dwayne's near unconscious body, causing the other wrestler to shrink down to the size of an ant. Steve, still shrunken, growled in anger and charged in at Oyatsu, but his blows were barely even noticed by his enemy. Oyatsu chuckled and quickly swatted Steve out of the air, knocking him for a serious loop.

However Devin had taken time to charge a new technique, and pointed out a glowing finger, "DODOMPA!10" and shot a large, but thin beam of ki from a fingertip which smashed into Oyatsu, however the attack was finding little purchase, and at best leaving a small friction burn on Oyatsu's face.

He turned to Devin, "Such pathetic attacks! You expect that to actually harm me!" and he jumped at Devin, who only barely managed to dodge an incoming kick.

However before he could turn to make a second attack, Clint's voice shouted out, "THEN BLOCK THIS PUNK!" as Oyatsu saw him hovering a flat, circular plane of ki energy above an outstretched hand, and then Clint hurled it forward at Oyatsu.

_Dodge it, Dan!_ he thought to himself.

Oyatsu cackled, "You think some stupid disc is going to harm me!" However Oyatsu suddenly heard Dan's mental voice shout out ** _DODGE IT YOU IDIOT! IF IT HITS YOU, WE'RE BOTH DEAD!_**

And Oyatsu suddenly realized the attack, "Shit!" as he jumped up and just barely cleared the Kienzan11 about to slice him in half. However the lower end of his overcoat had not fully evaded the disc, and an uneven part of it had fallen to the ground.

Clint growled, _Finally he got his head out of his ass! Now if I can just keep his distracted with these, we can hold him off until Vernon and Jason arrive!_ he then raised his hand again, forming a second Kienzan.

"Devin, Dusty, get Steve and Dwayne and get back!" Clint called to them as he tossed the second disc up at Oyatsu.

"Shit! I hate this attack! I don't think our powerlevels are different enough for me to survive a direct hit!" the shapeshifter growled as he narrowly evaded the first Kienzan, and then had to strafe right to avoid the second. However Clint regained control and made the Kienzans alter course.

Oyatsu growled, _Dammit! He's really trying to kill me!_ He then realized he had to reveal himself, "Are you so certain you want to kill your friend, you idiot! He's not exactly himself!"

Devin growled, "So you're not really Dan!"

"Make no mistake, this is Dan, but only his body is aware, not his mind!" Oyatsu replied.

"You possessed him!" Dusty called up, a look of anger melting in on his face.

"Yes Dusty! I have possessed your best friend!" he then realized he could do something with this, "Are you just going to stand back while I do as I please with him, potentially even getting him killed on your other friends' cutting discs!"

Dusty growled, "Clint, stop your attack! You heard him! He's got control of Dan!"

Clint growled, "I know that, but I'm not trying to kill him!" however he covered his mouth at the last second, realizing he had just blown his own plan.

"AHA! Now I get it! You keep me busy enough with your otherwise fatal cutting discs, and buy yourself time for Vernon and Jason to arrive! Well sorry, you just blew it!" Oyatsu growled.

Devin was taken off guard, "Wait you knew they were coming! How! Scouters can't pick up their powerlevels without exploding!"

Oyatsu chuckled, "THIS scouter can, but I also sensed them coming Devin! You thought Dan still couldn't sense ki, didn't you?"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Dusty growled, plowing upward into the air at Oyatsu.

"IDIOT! You just made the same fatal mistake as Alex!" Oyatsu shouted as he dashed down at Dusty and smashed into him, fist to face. Dusty went plummeting to the ground below, causing a large enough tremor to shake the area.

Clint tried to redirect his two Kienzans forward at Oyatsu, but he quickly dodged both and shot a Double Sunday, both blasts colliding with the flat sides of the Kienzans and shredding the cutting ki discs apart. Clint growled and started shooting several more Kienzans in rapid succession, but Oyatsu cackled as he shot down each one.

"Losing your composure? Hahah! It's fruitless, you idiots! Even if Jason and Vernon were here, they would be of little more use to you than now!"

Devin growled, "They'd floor your ass to the ground and you know it! You sensed their ki!"

"Maybe NOW they could, but all I have to do is say one phrase within their earshot, and they lose their ability to transform for 12 hours, just like Clint did!" Oyatsu chuckled, "I placed a curse around a 40 mile area. Anyone within the curse's range will lose their ability to become Super Saiya-jins of any kind for 12 hours whenever the words 'Durty Durt Dur' are uttered within their earshot!"

Devin looked up in shock, "Shit! No way!"

However Oyatsu had been so focused on his boasting that he had failed to notice a silent Kienzan flying straight at him. He only picked it up as it was within inches of him, and dodged as fast as he could. However the Kienzan had managed to slice a small cut into the side of his leg, and also his overcoat now had a large tear in the side.

Oyatsu's eyes darkened in rage as he turned to Clint, "You bastard! You actually hurt me!"

"That WAS the idea, you son of a bitch!" Clint called back, throwing another Kienzan.

Oyatsu growled, and quickly blasted the second kienzan out of the air, however he had realized the first kienzan had never dispersed, and was only lucky that he turned in time to duck it and prevent being beheaded. Clint jumped back while he was distracted, however his leg soon landed on something rigid. He looked down to see something flat lying on the ground.

His eyes narrowed, _Of course! His gun! I might be able to end this now if I can get him to shoot at me!_ He then formed another Kienzan and shot it in low at Oyatsu, followed by a second Kienzan aimed at his head.

Oyatsu heard the twin Kienzans and growled, "Why don't you just give it up! You can't hit me with a accurate enough shot!"

Clint smirked, "Why don't you make me give up? You're losing your cool!"

Oyatsu growled, "I'll make you give up, so badly you'll want me to end your pain! I hope you like being a bug!" he then pulled out his shrinking blaster.

Devin growled, "Clint watch out!"

However Clint smirked, "Try it!"

"Fine!" Oyatsu shot the blaster at Clint. However Clint reacted and suddenly used his ki to pull up the flat object near him on the ground, an abandoned section of a mirror.

Devin looked on in confusion, and Oyatsu's eyes widened as the shrinking ray reflected off the mirror in front of Clint. Clint lowered the mirror to watch the beam snake back at Oyatsu.

However Oyatsu grinned evilly, "PSYCHE!" as the beam suddenly REFLECTED off of HIS overcoat, and split off into two directions, one beam heading at Clint, another at Devin.

Devin had managed to jump aside in time, but Clint had been horribly taken by surprise by the nasty change in his luck and was hit by the other beam, shrinking down to the size of an ant.

"SHIT! His coat's made of some reflective material!" he squeaked, as he tried to fly over towards a safer place. However Oyatsu quickly reacted and appeared above him, swatting him to unconsciousness. He then shot the blaster towards Dusty's fallen form, causing him to shrink the same. He attempted then to shoot at Devin, hoping his shock would keep him rooted in place.

However Devin swiftly dodged, and his aura flared up to an intense black, much similar to the anger flashes he had been experiencing in the past couple of days. He clenched his right fist, and slowly, what looked to be a sword made of ki flared in his hand.

Oyatsu looked at him through the scouter on his eye, "475,000! That's higher than Clint when transformed! Shit! Shit shit! He's transforming!"

"CHEW ON THIS YOU BODY-STEALING ASSHOLE! CRESCENT SLASHER!" Devin screamed, as he swung the sword of ki with intense energy, flinging a powerful wave of energy straight at Oyatsu.

"SHIT! 736,200 degrees! I gotta dodge... AAARGGH!" Oyatsu had not been able to dodge, as the wave smashed into him, erupting into a dark-blue pillar of energy. Oyatsu was sent flying backwards, and smashing into a tree way down on the edge of the field.

However, while he was knocked for a loop, he did not plow through the tree and merely slumped to the ground. Devin gasped in pain, the attack he threw having drained him to near-death, and lost hold over his mysterious powerup, and fell to his knees, able to do little more than breathe.

"Dammit... that was... unreal! What did I just... do to him! Wait! Vernon and Jason are here!" he gasped, as he turned his attention northeast-ward, seeing Vernon and Jason, both transformed as Super Saiya-jin 2s, fly in close.

"Down here! I'm over here!" he called up, and the new arrivals shortly decided to land in close. The two ran over to Devin.

"You okay?" asked Vernon.

"Used too much power, but I got him. He's over there slumped against that tree. He got the others good. He's got some kinda... shrinking gun and..." however Devin's attempt to explain was interrupted by the shrill whine of a large blast heading right at him, fired from the still conscious Oyatsu's left hand.

Vernon realized he had no time to deflect the shot and save Devin at the same time, so he improvised and shoved his friend out of its' path. However only Jason was able to see that behind the ki blast was a shrinking laser. Vernon had barely been able to deflect the ki blast when he was hit by the shrinking ray, and shrunken down to an ant-sized morsel. Jason gasped in horror, and noticed that Devin was now totally unconscious, not having enough stamina to stand after being shoved out of the way.

Oyatsu painfully jumped up, and growled, scanning his own hand with the scouter on his face, "Damn that Devin! He cut down my powerlevel another 50,000 degrees with that little desperation attack. Now he's definitely becoming an ant!" he growled as he shot Devin's unconscious body with a follow up laser from the shrinking ray, causing him to shrink down quickly.

Jason growled, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH DAN!"

Oyatsu looked over to Jason, "Ah, the last one standing is you Jason. I don't count Vernon, with how weakened he is now being so small."

Vernon had growled at that, realizing his situation was much worse than when he had been shrunken by Nina on the plane to Japan, or when he argued too much with Alex. He knew even with his Super Saiya-jin powers intact that he wasn't going to dare make a move on Oyatsu. It was times like this he wished he had a way to contact one of the higher-tier Misfits like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17 or even Buu.

Jason looked over to him, "You're not really Dan, are you?"

"You're half right, Jason. This is Dan's body, but I'm not Dan's MIND. I'm someone completely different. Dan's body makes a good vassal for takeover." the shapeshifter admitted.

"Yeah right, your powerlevel is much weaker. Wait a second! You're a Super Saiya-jin too!" Jason had suddenly realized, also making Vernon look on in surprise.

"Yes, Dan's not even a half-breed, but he has the transformation gene, not to mention my presence is allowing him to hold it longer than he probably normally could. He has no control at all right now, so you can't really blame him, nor do I think you could really kill him." Oyatsu smirked, "And with that, I spit Durty Durt Dur in your face!"

"Durty Durt Dur? That's MY line you... what the hell!" Jason was cut off as he realized his powerlevel was dropping fast. Vernon had also heard both mentions of the dreaded phrase, and had began to weaken even more than before. Within less than 2 seconds, both Vernon and Jason were back in base form, their aura giving off fart-like noises as both tried to transform again and failed.

"What the fuck is this!" Vernon growled.

"Now now boys, there's no need for Super Saiya-jins! Because with this handy curse, not even GOKU could maintain it once it plays into affect!" Oyatsu cackled. With little effort, even for his slightly damaged body, he zanzokened and smashed Jason to the ground, dazed and nearly unconscious, and then quickly swatted the ant-sized Vernon to unconsciousness. He then aimed his shrinking blaster at Jason and quickly shot him, shrinking him down to ant-size.

He chuckled to himself, "Aside from Clint and Devin's little parlor tricks, that wasn't too hard. However... now I'll be playing in the big leagues soon. There's no way in hell Goku, Vegeta, #17, Piccolo or Buu DIDN'T sense all of that. They'll know by now I'm not to be scoffed with." he then found Steve and Dwayne's shrunken forms, and pulled out a bottle, and placed both wrestlers inside of it and corked it shut.

He then did similar to Clint, Dusty and Devin, putting them in a second bottle. Then finally he placed Vernon and Jason inside of a third bottle. Now he had taken out another seven of his targets, which basically rounded off all of the 'newbie' Misfits, and even one of the more experienced ones.

"That's twelve down, another 6 or so to go, and the hardest of the lot!" Oyatsu grumbled, however he then tensed up, "Wait a second! What is this? I feel something strange inside of Dan, like something struggling to make it to the surface... no it's not his conscious mind, it's something else."

He soon gave into to the urge, and called out a strange phrase, "SCULPTOR CURTAIN!" What happened next was one of the most odd experiences Oyatsu would know. He suddenly felt like his body was becoming lighter, almost lighter than before. He also began to notice a lot of the burns, cuts and bruises and other injuries on his body began to fade away. Although there were still a few signs of damage left on his body, it was as if he had healed a decent amount. He also felt stronger than usual. He keyed his scouter and looked at a hand again. The reading was now around 609,300 instead of 596,700 as he had before.

"That... healed me a little! OH YES! Now I'm gonna bring the pain on those asswipes! Screw their sensu beans, I don't need them with this!" He then noticed something odd with his ki sense.

Although Goku, Vegeta, #17, Piccolo and Buu had all appeared to be gathering towards each other, some of them suddenly appeared to break off into separate pairs, Piccolo and #17 in one pair, and Goku and Vegeta in a second, leaving Buu on his own. It appeared to have happened at about the same time he had started to heal.

"What the hell are they doing? It looked like they were all gonna come at me at once, but now they split up and broke off in several directions again. Something's odd about all of this." Oyatsu decided if they weren't coming to him that he'd sit down and rest a little more to try to relieve the remaining aches of pain in Dan's body. He also knew that Piccolo, #17 and especially Buu were going to be the hardest to trick. Although he did notice that Piccolo and #17 were apparently heading in his direction, they were not moving as fast as they probably should.

It was then he realized something as he sensed out, he couldn't sense his own powerlevel at all. Although the SCOUTER had done fine enough in giving him a reading, it was as if he had vanished off the ki radar. He then noticed something else shocking as he looked at the fallen mirror Clint had tried to trick him with. He didn't see his reflection at all, although he could still see Dan's body through his own eyes.

He realized, "The 'Curtain' part, it must hide my ki and my physical appearance! I don't know what this power is, but it's just gave me a brand new respect for Dan's powers. I must've truly chose right! Those assholes can't find me right now! I'll just lay low and wait for them to get close. With this, I might be able to take all of them without a fight!" Oyatsu cackled, as he sat down again, and rested his mind for the coming conflict...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 7:03am; Canton, Ohio)

Roughly one full hour had passed before Oyatsu realized that both #17 and Piccolo were coming in close to him at last. For the last 30 minutes, they had been hovering around the nearby neighborhoods, as if lost in looking for something. Oyatsu had realized also by now that his cloak had worn off, now able to see his reflection in the laying mirror, as well as sense his own powerlevel. He quickly heard the roaring sound of Piccolo and #17 flying in close, and spotted the two of them coming from a little to his south.

The Namekian and cyborg had apparently spotted Dan, but instead of firing down and attacking him, they decided to land about 50 yards away from him. Piccolo had wondered just what had been going on with the disappearances of all the others. All he knew for sure was that Dan was apparently at the center of the chaos, and according to #17 and his own ki senses, that his powerlevel was over 20 times its usual stage. He then realized that Dan had transformed to Super Saiya-jin as well, which had explained the aura around him. #17 on the other hand, had been restless, apparently it was not just because of Dan's apparent attacks, but something else had him jumpy. He had also realized Dan's powerlevel was much higher than the others, and he also detected a strange apparatus on his person, but nothing else.

"Piccolo, stay on your toes. He's concealing something under his coat, I think a kind of weapon."

Piccolo scoffed, "If it's a gun, then his gesture's useless. I can't remember the last time any of us were ever harmed by any kind of cannon or conventional firearm."

#17 smirked, realizing Piccolo made a lot of sense, "Perhaps your right. Hopefully we can get all the answers out of him. Should we just kick his ass now or not?"

"No, I wanna see if this is even Dan we're dealing with anymore." Piccolo replied, making #17 blink at him in confusion.

Meanwhile, Oyatsu had taken use of their conversation to gauge their powerlevels with his scouter. He grumbled at he looked at Piccolo's reading, a "94,617,600 ". From his experience with overclocked scouters, that indicated that the scouter had hit the peak of what it could scan for one person. Unlike the normal scouters, overclocked scouters didn't explode when reading a powerlevel exceeding what it could see, but merely added " "s depending on how much higher the powerlevel might've gone. #17's powerlevel on the other hand was erratically going back and forth from "90,500,000" to "94,617,600 ".

_ Bleh! Damn #17 and his mechanical implants, they're messing up the scouter somewhat._ He almost thought about reaching into his overcoat for a Navy Blue Scouter model, but then figured that he'd not actually need it for now.

He decided that perhaps a little bit of collective banter could fluster one of them, leave them open to an attack. He had already had a different capsule clenched in his hand, the yellow-coded one he had shown Dan the other night.

"Hello Piccolo and #17, nice day for a meeting!" he acted almost as if he had known nothing of the recent hours.

Piccolo frowned at him, "Dan, just what the hell are you up to? It's seems that all of our students are just disappearing after you meet with them. Are you trying to turn on us!"

"Why Piccolo, you wound me. I'll have you know that Radditz was taken care of because you were right about him." Oyatsu quickly thought to try to use Piccolo's own accusations at Radditz against him.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Come on now, I'm not stupid. You told us quite a few times that you never trusted Radditz fully. I mean, don't you even want to know WHY he asked both of you for so many sensu beans the other day?" Oyatsu said.

Although Piccolo was cautious, the seed of doubt had planted itself in both his and #17's minds.

"I know what you're talking about. Radditz never took the bean, did he?" #17 replied, making Piccolo look to him.

"What! What're you talking about, #17!" the Namekian growled at him.

"I was keeping tabs on his powerlevel after he left that day. It never really spiked, which happens to Saiya-jin when they eat sensu beans."

Piccolo growled, "Then... it's true... he HAS been hiding something from us!"

"No, you don't understand Piccolo, I could see in his eyes what he was thinking... I think he was intending to grow a sensu PLANT, so we would have more beans!" #17 replied back.

Oyatsu's eyes widened, _ WHAT! Damn... that would make a lot of sense if that's true! And that means I have to go and destroy this plant before it can grow!_

Piccolo's eyes furrowed, "Grrr... that moron! We've tried that in the past, and none of us have ever gotten it to work without Korin's help!" He then looked to himself, "But still... if that was what he was hiding..." he turned to Oyatsu, "You're still lying to us Dan! Even if Radditz DID turn on us, it would NOT explain why the others would do the exact same thing!"

"Hehehe... I didn't say I was totally innocent Piccolo. Radditz got what he deserved, but so did the others, and you two are about to join them!" Oyatsu screamed as he uncompressed the capsule in his hand and formed the Concussion Pulse Gun, and shot 5 quick blasts of electro magnetic energy in the direction of his enemies.

Piccolo and #17 growled and jumped before the blasts could reach them, however unexpectedly, three of the shots had suddenly lifted into air, flying right at #17.

"#17 LOOK OUT!" Piccolo warned, and #17 managed to dodge the first shot, but the other two swerved up and smacked into him.

#17 screamed in agony as the two shots filled out over his body and paralyzed him. The shot he had dodged had curved back and smacked into him too, inflicting worse pain. #17 fell out of the air, his composure totally destroyed with so much electromagnetic energy surging his body.

Piccolo looked on in shock and turned to Dan, "Dan, what the... SHIT!" Piccolo had little time to even talk, as Oyatsu had taken advantage of #17 being a distraction to form Kienzans of his own and toss them up at Piccolo. He managed to dodge the first one with only a shredded cape, but the second and third ones would not miss. The second was now vertical to the air and sliced across one of Piccolo's shoulder, completely severing his right arm off, and the shock of the attack froze him enough that the third Kienzan lopped off his left arm from the elbow down.

"AAARRRGHH! DAMN YOU DAN! When I get my hands on..." however Oyatsu was not going to give Piccolo much chance to do more, darting up in front of Piccolo and releasing a bright Taiyoken right in the namekian's face, causing him to lose control of both his vision, and also with the loss of two of his limbs, he had little ability to keep his ki under control and began to fall to the ground.

However Oyatsu quickly pulled the Shrinking Blaster and shot the Namekian quickly, and even the powerful and seasoned Z-warrior was no match for the ray, shrinking down literally to the size of an ant. Knowing the threat of Piccolo able to grow his size, he quickly swiped the shrunken Piccolo from the air with his free hand and put a hard squeeze on his body, causing many of his bones to break, and leaving him on the brink of unconsciousness. He unsheathed a clean bottle from his pocket and threw the battered, shrunken Namekian inside. He then turned to #17, both now blinded, and additionally paralyzed in a state of extreme agony.

Oyatsu laughed menacingly, "Poor poor widdle #17, turns out being a cyborg isn't always so great! You might have unlimited stamina, but you're body attracts electricity far better than the normal human body, and that's why you couldn't evade my pulse blaster! By the way, just so you know, that was the same gun that Al-queda operative used to try and kill Devin and Dan four days ago!"

#17 growled, "So... you're not Dan at all!"

"No... I am called Oyatsu. I am an entity that recently came into possession of your friend's body. Funny how such a weak fighter like him could so easily overcome two 'veterans' like you with a little bit of thinking!" Oyatsu replied, and shot #17 with the shrinker blaster. #17 growled as he was reduced to little more than an ant-sized morsel.

With his small size, the energy field surrounding him intensified its' power over him, and he only utter, "Damn... you... but you... won't last long... she..." and then he passed out, and the electrical field dispersed around him, allowing Oyatsu to pluck up off the ground and place him in a different jar.

"Oh well, I got plenty of jars to spare, but I can't risk Piccolo breaking out, he would've been much harder to beat again than #17 was."

Now he realized that only four remained: Goku, Vegeta, Nina and Mr. Buu. He knew there was no way Goku and Vegeta at least weren't on his way to him now. Buu was probably not going to be too far behind, but he then realized something odd.

"Why can't I sense Nina? She should be around here somewhere, but it's like she has her powerlevel down so low I can't sense it!" And then he remembered, "Shit, Radditz's sensu plant! I'll need to remember to drop by his and Nina's house and destroy it later. However I won't make it there at this point unless I drop Goku, Vegeta and Buu from the picture." he then thought to himself, "Maybe I can buy some time with that ability of Dan's."

He was about to scream out the words of Dan's healing/masking power, when he saw something incoming at his location fast. _SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT! They're already transformed! Those bastards transformed already! They could easily drop me without revealing their position to me!_

He took in a deep breath, although Goku and Vegeta's powerlevels were colossal to what Oyatsu had remembered, he realized something, "Of course, they'll probably want to talk to me too, find out just what's going on. No doubt they'll probably want to try to keep from killing Dan. I'll use that to my advantage. I just hope at base level they don't prove to be much worse than #17 or Piccolo are." he mused to himself, as Goku and Vegeta's figures became visible in the air.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 7:08am; Canton, Ohio)

Goku and Vegeta had spotted Dan from their sky-high vantage point. Both were staring at him with looks of anger, mixed with confusion. Vegeta had been wanting to blast Dan first and then ask him questions later, but Goku was curious. He already knew that Dan himself was not controlling his actions, but another from within was controlling him. He had told Vegeta, and the prince growled about it, but told Goku to keep on extremely high guard. Both knew that if Dan had managed to take down #17 and Piccolo, that he would be a serious problem, weak powerlevel or not, and that was why both had transformed to the highest states possible.

The two high-tier Misfits floated in a few yards closer, cautiously watching Oyatsu from below, waiting for him to make a move. However when about 40 seconds passed with nothing but building tension, Vegeta and Goku cautiously decided to lower their altitude about 30 feet, to the point were they weren't too far off the ground, but able to make a quick movement if Dan pulled something.

Goku decided he would start off and called over, "Dan! What are you doing? This is crazy!" Oyatsu didn't immediately respond. He looked almost as if he were in a trance. Goku and Vegeta blinked at that.

Vegeta growled, "Dammit Dan, speak up! We want to know what're you're trying to pull over our eyes!"

Oyatsu still appeared somewhat to be in a trance, but then his eyes suddenly flickered from turquoise to orange, and he looked over to the two Saiya-jin. He breathed in deep one time, and then spoke up, however instead of Dan's voice, Oyatsu's own voice thundered out of Dan's mouth, "Son Goku, Vegeta, long time, no meet." Goku and Vegeta's eyes raised in surprise.

Goku responded, "So, it's Dan's body, but not Dan's mind."

"How observant of you, goofball." Oyatsu replied.

"What the hell do you want! Why are you attacking us?" Vegeta asked.

Oyatsu responded, "I'm very sorry. It's not anything really all that personal, Vegeta. However certain people I work for long for you and your Misfits out of the way, and I have been sent to do the job. Dan's conscience was locked in a struggle, due to his misgivings to Radditz and even Heero. Because of this, I was able to possess him and use him to my own means. You wouldn't believe the kind of potential he holds!"

Goku was curious, "Who are you anyways? You almost seem in a way like I should know you."

"I guess that familiarity shouldn't be a serious surprise. I used to know two of your own friends Goku, and I also am quite aware of you and Vegeta's own little antics. I even know a lot about #17 and Piccolo as well." Oyatsu replied.

"That doesn't tell us who you are! Out with it, you brat!" Vegeta growled impatiently.

"Geez you are impatient Vegeta." Oyatsu grumbled, "Do you two happen to remember Oolong and Puar?"

"Of course we do, why do you ask?" Goku was confused.

"Because I know them from the same academy they went to when they were young." Oyatsu explained, "I am called Oyatsu. I am a shapeshifter in my natural state, much akin to those two, except while those two stopped, I kept learning more and more. I also learned other abilities, one of which allowing me to possess the body of someone who is struggling with their conscience, much like Dan."

Goku looked in in worry, "I see. Do you realize how much trouble you're in Oyatsu? Dan is our friend, and you're not allow to have him, or any of the others! I don't care who you serve or why!" he then put himself into a fighting stance.

Vegeta growled as he got into a similar stance, "Really, are you such a coward that you have to hijack other people to do your dirty work!"

"Not a coward Vegeta, a wiseman. Let me put it to you clowns in a pop quiz: You've found your enemy, but he has possessed the body of one of those who you have been looking out for, like say a son, or a friend. You know you could kick his ass with ease, but the problem is that any attack you do runs a near 100 of killing the person you're trying to save! What the hell do you do? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO! ANSWER ME YOU PUNKS!" Oyatsu growled into an insane rage, causing Goku and Vegeta to actually back away a couple of inches at his outburst.

Seeing that he had made his point well enough, Oyatsu continued, "Well I know what you'll do! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" he growled as he made a sudden beeline straight at the two Saiya-jin.

Vegeta poised himself to counter-attack, but realized, "Damn me and my exposure to Kakarott's softness!" and jumped back, as did Goku, even at Super Saiya-jin 3, as Oyatsu suddenly jumped straight up into the air before coming too close to either Saiya-jin.

He cackled rather loud, "BWAHAHAHA! YOU ARE POWERLESS! YOUR SOFTNESS FOR OTHERS IS YOUR DOWNFALL!" Oyatsu growled, "AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER HORRIBLY FOR IT! DURTY DURT DUR! DURTY DURT DUR! DURTY DURT DUR! FALL TO YOUR KNEES!"

Goku and Vegeta suddenly went agape as they both began to notice each other powering down. Vegeta witnessed in horror as Goku's long hair slowly vanished back into his default base look, and Goku was equally as shocked to see Vegeta's hair return to a black color. Both Saiya-jin immediately attempted to power back up, even if only to normal Super Saiya-jin level, but the fart-like sounds from their aura were a shocking sign that the curse had done it's job well, even on the mightiest two of the Z-warriors.

"SHIT! What is this! Why the hell can't I transform!" Vegeta growled.

Goku was just as shocked, "I can't transform either!" Oyatsu wasted no time capitalizing on the two Saiya-jin's shock, and he aimed his shrinking blaster at Vegeta. The smaller Saiya-jin went agape as he only looked up just as he was hit, and Goku watched in a mystified horror as his friend and fellow Saiya-jin began to shrink down until he was the size of an ant.

Oyatsu quickly scanned both with his scouter, "Only 84,000,000? Your base powerlevel badly disappoints me Goku! Vegeta's at around 74,041, merely child's play to me!" Goku looked up to notice the blue scouter on his face, "Where did you get that scouter? It's not like the one Radditz had been using!"

"This scouter is a gift to me among many from those who hired me to take you out, and speaking of your brother's scouter, it's history! I broke it when I first took him down!" Oyatsu cackled.

Goku growled at him, "Damn you! What have you done to my brother and the others!"

"The same thing I'm about to do with you and Vegeta. You noticed I can shrink people, but their weakened powerlevel makes them easy to capture! I've been ordered to take you all alive if possible, but an accidental kill here and there wouldn't really hurt either if it came to it!" Oyatsu cackled.

Goku thought to himself, as Vegeta growled, "Bastard! Shrunken or not, I'm a lot stronger than the others!" and he flew up towards Oyatsu.

"Vegeta stop!" Goku cried up, but Vegeta ignored him. Oyatsu charged his ki and fired a moderate sized energy ball that intercepted the shrunken Saiya-jin prince with ease, and forcing him to the ground, where it exploded, leaving a charred Vegeta gasping for air on the scorched ground.

Vegeta made a second attempt to jump at Oyatsu, and fired off a Big Bang attack, but Oyatsu screamed a Kiai which absorbed the vastly weakened blast. He then swiped out and smacked Vegeta out of the air, causing him to smash to the ground, and knock him out cold.

He then formed two Kienzans, one in each hand, and called at Goku, "Hey catch this, hot shot!" and tossed both his way. Goku growled, and screamed out his own Kiai and dispersed the Kienzans, and made a dash at Oyatsu. Oyatsu raised his arms to defend himself, but Goku zanzokened above him at the last minute and swung a light kick into the shapeshifter's back, causing him to fly forward.

Oyatsu growled and flipped back up painfully, but Goku quickly attacked him a second time and this time he was sent flying through a nearby tree and ripping it apart. Oyatsu lay on his back in the field, badly wounded.

_Damn! Damn damn damn! FUCKING BASTARD! I OUTTA KILL YOU!_ he screamed out mentally, not able to say it out loud with how wounded his body was.

It was then he realized, _Of course! He doesn't know about the curtain! I can still beat him!_

Goku stood on the ground nearby, wondering if Oyatsu was going to make another attempt at getting up. When about 20 seconds had passed without doing so, he sighed with relief, "Finally, he's down, but how am I gonna get this guy out of Dan without killing him?"

"Sculptor Curtain..." Oyatsu whispered, as he already began to feel his body lighten up. He then called to Goku, "YOU'RE NOT! TA-TA, SUCKER!"

Goku growled as he saw Oyatsu rise to his feet slowly, but as he did, Goku could swear he faded out of visibility. Goku tensed up, looking around for him with his ki sense, "Damn him! He teleported away!"

Oyatsu snickered, _Idiot! He thinks I ran! Now to shrink his ass!_ he jumped up over Goku and landed behind him, and pulled out the Concussion Pulse Gun and the Shrinker Blaster, and fired a shot from each, which quickly combined into a single blast.

Goku turned his head, to find the large shot careening at him. However before he could jump he was shoved from behind by Oyatsu's quick reflexes, and was unable to dodge as he was hit by the blasts, and was both shrinking down to the size of an ant and then being restrained by the electrical pulses.

"What the hell! How did he..."

"IDIOT. You just thought I ran away, didn't you!" Oyatsu's voice echoed.

Goku tried to look around, not able to see Oyatsu anywhere, or even sense him with his ki. "Why the hell can't I see or sense you!"

"Ah, this time Dan IS responsible. Apparently he was beginning to gain some understanding of a new power of his. One that both heals and disguises his position, making him invisible to sight and ki sense apparently! Remember when you probably thought I vanished after I defeated Devin's gang? Well that was why!" Oyatsu replied in a fit a maddened glee, making Goku shudder.

Oyatsu focused his ki sense, lifting both Goku and Vegeta off the ground, unable to do little as he placed both inside another unoccupied bottle in his overcoat. However he realized as he had done this that he was becoming visible again for some reason.

"What the? Why is my cloak fading so quickly?" he asked in anger, and then realized, "Now I think I get it. As long as I don't try to use Ki or something along that line, I'll remain invisible. Using my ki for anything more than movement must distort the cloak and destroy it. Damn! That limits the use of this power! Maybe Dan's powers are still too underdeveloped for a serious battle." he mused, but he was impressed at his work, now he had about everyone else out of Dan's friends, except for Nina and Mr. Buu in his clutches, helpless to do more than squirm.

He knew now the worst was yet to come, Buu would not let this go unpunished, and Nina... he had no clue where the hell she had gone off to, but he figured if he could defeat Paula with moderate ease, he could defeat Nina too. He then remembered of the sensu plant Radditz had been revealed to be probably trying to grow.

"I think it's time to pay Nina and Radditz's place a little visit. I can't allow this sensu plant to be used by them, if it even grows!" he growled, as he activated a second use of Sculptor Curtain, in order to hide from Buu, just in case the Majin would attempt to intercept him along the way. He cackled madly as he took to the air and flew off in the direction of Nina's house.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 7:41am; Canton, Ohio)

As Oyatsu flew in the direction of Nina's house, he had found himself entering the eastern end of Canton when he suddenly felt Buu's huge ki moving around close to him.

"What the hell! Buu! He's nearby! Maybe I should take care of him now!" Oyatsu chuckled, and flew off towards where he had sensed Buu's ki.

As he flew in, he realized he had reached the McKinley High School, close to the Pro Football Hall of Fame where Piccolo and #17 had gone to only days ago. He had flown around curiously, wondering why exactly Buu was still hovering around up here, and not exactly looking for him. He soon spotted Buu standing near the middle of the school's own football field, looking out northwards, almost as if he were looking for something.

Oyatsu looked at him, "What the hell's he doing? He's easy prey for me with his guard down like that! Oh well, might as well take advantage of this! I guess he won't be tough after all." as he landed only a few yards away from Buu, still cloaked with roughly another 10 to 15 minutes left before it automatically faded. He knew from experience using the guns he had would not reveal his position, although Buu might have some time to dodge the shots if he was too far away. He edged in closer, noticing Buu was still staring northwest-wards, as if he were waiting on something.

_ Heh, Buu you fool, it was nice knowing you!_ he thought to himself as he quickly shot the shrinking blaster at Buu. However as the laser was within 2 feet of Buu, his eyes opened, and a large hole opened in his large body, manipulated by his putty-like features, and the shrinking shot sailed harmlessly through without having any affect on Buu.

Oyatsu cursed mentally _ SHIT! HE SAW IT! I forgot he could manipulate his body that way!_ Buu scowled and quickly fired a small blast towards the location of Oyatsu's blast. Although it was a weak shot, it was moving far too fast for the shapeshifter to fully dodge, and he was hit, and sent flying back about 2 or 3 yards before he broke free. However the blast had done more than knock the wind out of him, the hit had also distorted the cloak provided to him, causing it to fade out and reveal himself to Buu.

Buu turned to Oyatsu, with a face of concern, "Dan, what you doing?"

Oyatsu growled, "What does it look like, you pink piece of shit? I'm here to take you out!" 

"Dan not being nice!" Buu grumbled as he stared at Oyatsu.

"Hah, you wanna chide me about not being nice! I'm not the one who was responsible for destroying a fucking planet, or more!" Oyatsu growled back, and it looked as if anger were slowly taking him over, and it looked apparent he did not like Buu one bit.

"What Dan talking about? Buu no destroy planets!" Buu replied.

"You lying bastard! It was because you couldn't control your anger that the Earth was destroyed! Imagine how someone still alive felt! You killed nearly everyone on Earth before hand, because you thought it was some twisted game!" Oyatsu fumed.

"That not Buu, that was evil Buu!" Buu growled in defense.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Oyatsu screamed in rage, "YOU WERE THE REASON 'EVIL BUU' CAME TO BE! YOU COULDN'T JUST HOLD IT BACK, COULD YOU! YOU HAD TO EXPEL YOUR EVIL SIDE, AND BECAUSE YOU WERE SO FUCKING WEAK, YOU GOT ABSORBED, AND HELPED HIM EVOLVE! YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR GUTS! I REALLY REALLY WISH YOU'D KEEL OVER AND DIE!" 

"You... you not Dan." Buu growled, his anger bubbling, "What you do to Dan! What you do to friends!"

"Nothing in comparison to the torture I have reserved especially for you!" Oyatsu growled, almost falling into a fit of insane rage again, "You being free is an abomination! It's time you got what you deserve! My masters will deal with you later." Buu growled, and Oyatsu could see a few streams of steam rush from the pores in his arms and head.

"SIT DOWN." Buu growled and smashed the ground with a sudden blow, which caught Oyatsu off guard and forced him to jump off the ground to avoid falling down. Buu raised his hand and shot a series of three ki blasts in a triangular pattern at the retreating shapeshifter.

Although not killer by any means, Oyatsu wasn't exactly in a position to simply dodge, and was hit by all three before he could think. He managed however to keep his composure and stay in the air. Buu zanzokened out of his sight, and Oyatsu suddenly felt a fist hammer him in the face. He flew down and smashed into the ground below, and Buu descended right behind him, and before Oyatsu could flip up, Buu landed right on top of his chest, although not a fatal hit, it was more than enough to knock the wind out of the shapeshifting villain.

Buu growled at Oyatsu, "ENOUGH OF THIS! BUU PISSED! GET OUT OF DAN! GET OUT OF HIM! YOU NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

"Why don't you just kill me then, fatass!" Oyatsu coughed.

"Buu will not kill Dan! Buu will stay here until you leave Dan's body!" Oyatsu growled and flipped him the bird, but Buu grumbled at him and ignored the gesture. Oyatsu tried to struggle free, but Buu's weight held his lower body pinned to the ground like a vice.

_ Damn that fucking piece of chewing gum! I'LL KILL HIM! WAIT! Of course! Duh!_ Oyatsu looked up at Buu, and appeared to look as if the anger had drained out of his face, _I gotta time this just right, or I'm screwed!_

"I... I'm sorry... I lost it..." he acted as if he were to apologize, although he was mentally cringing that he would have to do such an act.

Buu's glare softened, "Who you? Why you so mad at Buu? Buu's evil side blew up Earth! But Earth was restored! Why hold grudge?"

Oyatsu grumbled softly, "You think just because your precious 'Dragonballs' can bring stuff back that it's fine to just ignore facts? The dragon can only grant each wish ONCE. You can't just act so nonchalant about something like blowing up a planet!"

Buu sighed, _He does make a point there._ "But why hate good Buu? Buu can't help his power wasn't enough to beat evil Buu!"

"I hate you because if you hadn't blown up for whatever reason, that peace would've come, and the Earth and its' people, they wouldn't have to suffer so much! You might not of known, but your evil self killed nearly everyone else left alive, and then he went insane and blew Earth to atoms!" Oyatsu grumbled, now beginning to focus a great deal of hidden energy into his still concealed hands.

Buu sighed, "Buu sorry okay! Buu was created like that! Blame Bibidi and Babidi! They made Buu to kill, to hurt, to destroy!"

"I realize that now..." Oyatsu replied, "But even then... I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" he then outstretched his hands right at Buu's face, "**MAFUBA!**"

The green blast of incarcerating energy flew out of Oyatsu's hands...

Being right on top of him, Buu had no room to dodge, and was hit immediately. Oyatsu screamed bloody murder as Buu began to scream in horror, as even his great power was unable to prevent the Mafuba from affecting him. Buu swirled around within the green vortex of energy as Oyatsu screamed like a banshee on steroids, Buu slowly shrunk down in the vortex until he was none but the size of a rat, and Oyatsu managed to fling out a capsule which had formed into a small bottle with a strange kana on the side. Buu shrieked in horror, unable to break free of the powerful containment wave.

**"NOW GO TO HELL YOU BASTARD!"** Oyatsu screamed as he directed Buu down all the way into the bottle, and after Buu had vanished within, he quickly corked the bottle, and reinforced it by shrinking it down and stuffing IT inside of a normal bottle like the ones he had used to hold the other Misfits. Oyatsu gasped hard, and breathed heavily, as he came to the realization that he had done it.

"YES! YES! I DID IT! WHO'S THE MAN NOW, BUU! HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR NEW HOME! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT, BECAUSE IT'S ALL YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW FOR THE REST OF YOUR FUCKING ETERNAL LIFE!" he screamed at the bottle in a disbelieving victory.

He then slumped to the ground, gasping for air... "I did it! I finally did it! I can't believe it... but Dan... he actually had the right stuff, I finally got Buu, and with only Nina left to deal with, I've basically all but succeeded!"

Getting slowly to his feet, he felt around, trying to sense out for Nina's ki. However much to his surprise, he could actually get a lock on her location this time.

However Oyatsu realized something, "So, that must've been what Buu was doing here! He was going to pair up with Nina to face me!" he spoke, as he saw Nina now on the horizon. The winged girl's size and large wings made it hard for him to not see her approaching. However she did not appear to be much too happy as she flew in closer to the football field.

Nina looked down and called, "Alright, whoever you are, enough is enough! It's time I put an end to this, once and for all!" she then landed out of the sky and to the ground about 10 feet from Oyatsu.

Seeing that his eyes had still been orange, she growled, "So it's true. You're the one who tipped off Al-queda to us."

Oyatsu cackled, his spirits uplifted from his battle with Buu, "Why yes, I was the one who originally sent them after Dan. However I realized how much of a mistake I almost made. Dan turned out to be far better alive than dead! I've now captured all of your friends, with the sole exception of yourself, but if you honestly think you can beat me, let's see you try!"

Nina smirked, "Very well." and she aimed her hands at him and fired a snaking black energy wave. Oyatsu jumped backward to dodge it, not wanting to know what could happen to him if it hit, but Nina quickly zanzokened behind him and gave him a vicious knee to the back, and sent the shapeshifter plowing forward, and landing on his face.

Oyatsu flipped up and growled, "Cheapshot bitch!"

"Takes one to know one." Nina replied, and fired off a blast of her Fireball spell. Not knowing what to expect, Oyatsu dodged aside, however Nina had come in close again.

"Dammit!" he growled as he barely managed to dodge her punch, and realized his body was a little harder of reaction than earlier. _I need to catch her off guard! Wait, just maybe that'll work!_

He then growled, "Not bad, but can you handle this?" he asked, pulling out the Concussion Pulse Gun at aiming it at Nina.

She gasped in horror as she quickly put two and two together, "It was you! You're the one who gave that Al-queda operative his stun-cannon!"

"Yes, and don't think I can't take you down with it. It worked very well on #17, someone with a powerlevel more than 40 times stronger than you!"

Nina growled, realizing she was in trouble if she got hit by the blasts, since she might end up attracting them at her. Oyatsu shot two blasts Nina's way. She managed to quickly dart past them, avoiding them. She tried to rush in close at Oyatsu to disable the gun, but she saw him unleash a torrent of shots her way out of reaction, which made it far too risky to get too close.

_Dammit! As long as he has that gun, I'll have to hit him from range._ She jumped back and unleashed a volley of ki blasts in an attempt to hit the gun, but Oyatsu jumped back, and called out "Sculptor Curtain!" and again began to heal some of his injuries and vanish from both Nina's sight and her ki sense.

"Damn! What the hell did he just... woah!" she couldn't even finish her sentence as four pulse blasts suddenly shot at her. She managed to dodge them all, but now she was finding it hard to even concentrate since blasts appeared to shot from several different points in front of her.

She growled, _Where are they!_ as she continued to dodge a volley of pulse cannon shots. However, Nina's luck was quickly running out, as she suddenly took a hit from behind by a moderately strong force, and got sent flying forward and hit the ground hard. She barely managed to roll under 3 other pulse shots sent in her direction, but she growled as she realized one of her ankles had been twisted in the fall. As she tried dodging a few more pulse shots, she took another hit from a blunt force from her side, and was finally knocked forward right into the path of one of the pulse blasts.

The energy hit her and quickly covered her from head to toe, pinning her to the ground. Nina tried desperately to fight the energy, but it wasn't budging, even for her. Oyatsu cackled, still invisible to her eyes, and her ki sense, but Nina, despite being pinned down, had finally managed to sense him, but not through ki, but through apparently his magicpowerlevel.

Oyatsu however did not seem to be quite so aware of this, and cackled, "So now do you see how fruitless this is! It's over Nina, now your team is totally down for the count. Dan will make a great vassal for my new plans!"

Nina grumbled, "You know what sucks about you? You talk too much!" as she raised her hand and shot a large blast of energy from the ring on her finger. Oyatsu, not expecting her to know where to aim was smacked hard by the magic-like blast and knocked to the ground, his cloak fading, and the concussion blaster falling to the ground, still intact.

"Argh! Lucky shot you bitch, but that alone won't stop me!" he replied as he saw the energy field still strong as ever around Nina. He pulled out the Shrinking Blaster and pointed it at her, "Once I shoot you with this, not even that hidden attack of yours will do much more than tickle me! Say hi to your friends for me, I'll be sure to stick you in with one..." however Oyatsu would not be able to finish his sentence or even get the chance to fire his shrinker, as he suddenly witnessed a large ki blast tearing right through what was once his shrinking blaster, and a second blast suddenly fly past his face and smash into what had been the concussion pulse blaster. Both weapons exploded into pieces, and Oyatsu turned his head in rage to the source of the shots.

"WHO DARES!" he growled, however he turned to find a THIRD blast heading straight at his face.

The shot smashed into him, tearing through the earpiece on his scouter, causing the assembly to explode, destroying the piece of scanning equipment. Oyatsu then gasped in a horrified shock, as he saw one person staring at him with a rage he had not been expecting.

His eyes now bore a insane look to him, "I should've remembered to get you first! You fucking bitch, you broke my scouter, and two of my best toys!" Oyatsu growled over at Teresa as the other girl had her hand outstretched, prepared to fire more blasts at the shapeshifter.

"I'll say this only once, GET THE FUCK OUT OF DAN'S BODY, **NOW**." she growled, barely holding in rage.

"Hahahaha! You have some damn nerve, bitch! **Dan is MINE, MINE MINE MINE!** And you... you are going to be **DEAD DEAD DEAD!** I do NOT need to leave YOU alive in any way shape or form! You just signed your death warrant by coming here!" Oyatsu bellowed, as he charged in faster than Teresa could act, and gave her a hard blow to the stomach, sending her flying back over 60 yards, and smashing through the stands around the football field. However Oyatsu had quickly appeared in her path of movement, and swung a vicious blow to her back, sending her slamming into the ground face first, and she could only twitch after the landing.

Oyatsu smirked insanely, "Now you find out how it feels, to suffer true fear, girl! If you thought Al-queda was horrifying, I'll show you a level of terror they could never hope to accomplish!" as he jumped up and landed his foot in Teresa's back, and stomped down on her several times, hearing the satisfying crack of her bones beginning to break as he stamped down on her repeatedly.

Nina, still trapped in the energy field from the pulse gun, attempted to fire several magic-blasts from her ring at Oyatsu, but the shapeshifter laughed in glee, knowing Nina couldn't close the gap to hit him more accurately, and merely dodged his head aside to avoid any that did come near him. He even managed to smack a blast aside that hit Teresa's fallen form in the arm, and hurting her worse.

"Do your worst Nina! Your aim sucks from range! That popgun does little to save your friend!" He then turned over to the fallen Teresa and grabbed her and threw her over on her back. She had looked in horrible shape from Oyatsu's attacks, and she was barely able to keep her eyes open.

"I'm sorry I can't talk longer, but have fun dying!" he growled.

Nina screamed in horror as she witnessed him plow his fist all the way through Teresa's chest, and out her back, making a massive dent in the ground beneath her. However Oyatsu did not see Teresa squirm defiantly in her final moments, nor did he even see any blood around the large hole in her stomach. Her insides made it look like she was composed of jello, and Oyatsu could swear her skin was turning blue.

Then Teresa smirked in a taunting manner, "PSYCHE!" as she appeared to turn into a blue energy that wrapped tightly around Oyatsu. The shapeshifter had no time to react as the energy wrap exploded and created a massive shockwave, which washed over the area and collided with Nina on the way past.

Nina gasped in shock, "Wait a minute! That was just one of her energy duplicates! I should've known! Damn her for scaring me shitless like that!" As the dust cleared, Oyatsu realized he had been horribly tricked. While he was not as injured as he though, he had not been able to put up a perfect defense, and he was badly charred, and his overcoat looked as if it was going to soon crumble to ashes.

"Damn... her... I should've fucking known. Her energy clones!" he growled.

"Hey bastard, over here!" Teresa's voice called from behind him, as he turned to see Teresa standing near the restrained Nina.

He growled, "Damn you! Don't think you can avoid the inevitable! Your energy clones might be a good trick, but you aren't exactly strong in your own right yet! Also, your clones appear to give off erratic readings on the scouter! I just need to look at the powerlevels to know which is really you!"

Teresa smirked, "Then try to find the real me, you asshole."

Oyatsu growled, as he began to reach into his overcoat, "Such insolence, you little bitch, I'll show you... WHAT!" he suddenly realized the capsule he was trying to find was missing. He growled frantically, trying to find the capsule with his scouters in them, but he couldn't find the right one.

**"WHERE IS IT!"** he growled frantically.

"You looking for a capsule full of decked-out scanner thingies!" Teresa called in a sing-song voice, pulling out a capsule in her pocket, one that made Oyatsu's eyes go red with fury.

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU FIND THAT CAPSULE!" he growled in rage.

Teresa cackled, "You shouldn't have been so careless when you fought Radditz! Remember when he caught you by surprise? You dropped a capsule out of your coat. Turns out it was filled with these sweet scouters. I had to count nearly 280 of them, all different colors of course."

Oyatsu growled as his energy flared up in a very uncontained rage, **"DAMN HIM! GIVE ME BACK THAT CAPSULE YOU WENCH, OR I'LL YOUR REAL DEATH WILL BE FIFTY TIMES MORE BRUTAL THAN WHAT I GAVE YOUR ENERGY CLONE!"**

Teresa pulled her eyelid down and raspberried the shapeshifter. He snarled at her, **"I'M WARNING YOU! DON'T FUCK WITH ME, OR YOU'LL SUFFER A FATE WORSE THAN HELL!"** he snarled, as electrical energy began to crackle around his already erratic aura.

Nina's eyes went wide, "Dammit! Teresa, he's going to Super Saiya-jin 2! He'll easily kill you! Give him the capsule before he mutilates you!"

Teresa snarled at Nina, "I am not a coward, and I will not let this asshole control Dan without any say in the matter!"

"Bold words, girl, but you're nothing even to Dan before I possessed him, what makes you think you even stand a chance against me NOW!" Oyatsu snarled, and prepared to charge at her, but suddenly he stopped as if he had been paralyzed. He tried to move, but he could barely move a muscle, as his own fist came rocketing into his face, and knocking him back for a wild loop.

He landed on his back, and tried to struggle to his feet, but he only ended up punching himself a second time. Teresa and Nina looked on in shock.

"What the hell is wrong with him!" asked Nina.

Teresa looked on, a hint of a smile on her face, _Dan... you're finally trying to break out, aren't you?_

Oyatsu continued struggling to even move most of his body, but he kept beating himself up instead. Suddenly, he screamed a horrible screech, but this time, Dan's real voice was heard, and not Oyatsu, "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

Oyatsu snarled, and slugged himself in the face, **"I SEE NOW! YOU LIKE HER, DON'T YOU? YOU COULDN'T BREAK OUT WHILE I WAS ATTACKING DUSTY, AND YET YOU'RE GIVING ME PROBLEMS ONLY WHEN I'M THREATENING _HER_ LIFE! FIGHT ME DAN! FIGHT ME AND LOSE LIKE THE WEAK FOOL YOU ARE!"**

He then snapped to life, and stood to his feet, although once in a while, Oyatsu would lose control and Dan would make him punch himself.

Oyatsu snarled, ** "ENOUGH OF THIS! I'VE HAD IT WITH ALL OF YOU!"** He then bent forward and put his arms to his chest in a cross-stance, and then screamed bloody murder as he released a massive shockwave which instantly slammed into Teresa and Nina, and sent then rocketing back over 200 yards. Oyatsu felt as if his entire essence would erupt into a fiery hell, as Dan's hair began to grow in length, growing all the way down his back, and to his hips, and his eyebrows began to fade away, and his orange pupils turning red and dilated. His electrical pulses began to intensify, yet looking to be more controlled in appearance, and his muscles tensed up tight. The dust cleared, as Teresa and Nina, now freed of the pulse cannon's energy field, gaped on in horror.

"His powerlevel nearly tripled! Shit!" Nina growled, "Please... please please don't tell me he just..."

"OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!" Teresa yelled in a mix of rage and fear.

Nina finally managed to see Oyatsu, and she cursed, "Damn our luck, Vegeta, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Radditz and Clint are NOT going to be happy about this if we all survive."

Oyatsu had finally realized of his change, and his expression was now more insane-looking than ever before. **"UNBELIEVABLE! I HAVE DONE IN LESS THAN A DAY, WHAT THAT CLOWN GOKU TOOK TEN YEARS TO DO! THIS IS GREAT! I FEEL EXCELLENT! I'M A SUPER SAIYA-JIN _3_!"** he then looked over, chuckling at Teresa and Nina, and he realized that with his newfound powerups that he actually far surpassed Nina without having to shrink her down.

**"WHAT A TWIST OF FATE, WOULDN'T YOU LADIES SAY? I LOSE MY SHRINKING CANNON, WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD BE THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT NINA, BUT IRONICALLY, WITH TERESA AND DAN'S INTERFERENCE, I MANAGE TO SURPASS HER IN WAY POWER ANYWAYS! DOESN'T FATE FIND THE SWEETEST WAYS OF KICKING ONE IN THE ASS!"** Oyatsu cackled, and he knew he was through playing games, **"NOW... PLAYTIME'S OVER! I'M GOING TO DESTROY THIS ENTIRE AREA, AND YOU TWO ALONG WITH IT! HAVE FUN IN HELL, BECAUSE I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HEAVEN!"** Oyatsu jumped up into the air with quick speed, and cupped his hands to the side, building energy for a massive Kamehameha, which while aimed down at Nina and Teresa's location, would more than likely have enough power packed in it to hit like a powerful bomb. Teresa and Nina looked up with a horrified expression.

"We're boned, aren't we?" asked Teresa.

"Uh yeah, we're very boned." Nina replied, until she perked up mysteriously, "Or maybe not!"

Oyatsu cackled insanely, **"YES, MY PRETTY, CHARGE UP, CHARGE UP TO FULL POWER!"** he looked down with monstrous intent upon the helpless remaining Misfits on the ground, **"THEY'RE SO PETRIFIED THEY WON'T EVEN TRY TO GET OUT OF THE WAY!"**

He then aimed his hands at them, **"NOW PREPARE FOR YOUR END! _HA!_"** he screamed and shot the massive blast down towards Nina and Teresa. Or at least that **had** been the plan...

Until a larger blast flew in from the west and intercepted Oyatsu's otherwise killer blast, and then directed both up into the upper atmosphere, where both blasts had exploded violently. However Oyatsu had no time to even witness this, as he had been slammed in the stomach with a walloping blow. His eyes nearly popped out, and his jaw hanging agape as he struggled to breath. He then was dealt a horrific kick to his back, sending him plummeting to the ground, and creating a massive crater.

Despite these blows, he was able to slowly get to his feet, and look in the direction of his attacker, however Nina and Teresa had still been rooted to the ground 200 yards away, so it had been neither of them. As his eyes lay on his attacker, he did a double take at the appearance of this new person. She was a woman standing nearly 5'7", with a slim build, blonde hair with shoulder length, however parted in an odd way in which the left side looked to cover her left ear, and the right side appearing to be slung over behind her right ear. Her slanted blue eyes bore into Oyatsu like a lion, as he finally registered his attacker's identity.

However, that was the last thing he would be able to think of, as he growled, **"Sh... shit... I didn't... **expect... a twentieth one..." as he collapsed to the ground, and his power dropping sharply, as his Super Saiya-jin forms slowly dispersed, until he was back in base.

A black, vaporous mist began to rise from Dan's body, as orange eyes appeared in the mist, looking to gaze bloody murder at his fatal assailant. The vapors began to form along the ground nearby, until it revealed the same grayish-black striped cat that he had been when Dan pet him the night before.

He looked up at Juuhachigou, or simply '#18' as many of her allies called her, and cursed, "How! How did you find this place so fast!"

#18 smirked at him, "You can thank my brother for that, you lunatic. Although I was already on the verge of finding this place, it was because of him and Nina that I was able to find you so fast. It was smart to use one of their own for your game, but I'm afraid the game is over. As you were boasting your grand plan to by brother, his internal transmitter was sending your conversation to me, therefore I had become aware you were causing trouble. You lose, I win."

Oyatsu almost looked as if he were going to personally fly up to try to strange the newcomer, but then his expression stiffened. "Maybe... maybe you're right, today. But if you really think I'm down for the count, you're quite wrong." he growled, and put a paw to his forehead, "Mark my words, cyborg bitch, you and your friends will live to regret this. I might not bother come back right away, or I might be gone for many years, but this isn't over."

#18 growled, "Enough crazy talk! Die you fiend!" she growled, igniting a Kienzan and shooting it down at Oyatsu.

However before the razor disc of ki could hit the cat, he vanished into thin air, and #18's eyes went wide, "What the! Shit! That was Kai Kai! How did he gain that technique? Damn... he's gone... I don't sense him at all anymore. Hell, I couldn't sense him in his natural form before... so I guess we're back to square one." She then lowered down to Dan's nearly-dead form. He looked badly banged up, despite the feats Oyatsu had made his body endure over the last few hours. Nina and Teresa had finally been able to reach them, realizing Oyatsu had gotten away.

"How is he?" Nina asked.

#18 scanned his body, "Not good, he's got many broken bones. I'm sure nothing short of a sensu's gonna help him, but I know he was capturing the other friends of yours. Where did he put them?"

"They're in his coat pocket, stashed away in bottles. I think Buu's additionally in some kind of extra jar made to seal away demons. He actually managed to get Buu with that Mafuba pretty good." Nina explained.

As they searched Dan's body, they managed to procure several more capsules, and much to their luck, they had found a second shrinker blaster, and a third concussion pulse gun in a couple of the left over capsules. They soon found the bottles, and found their friends inside of them, many of them barely conscious or out of it due to the thinness of the air within.

"We're coming!" Teresa said, as the three women quickly uncorked the many bottles, and releasing their shrunken and mostly injured friends into the open.

Teresa had managed to finally uncork the tiny jar Buu had been locked away in, and the pink fat Majin had managed to finally break free of his prison. He looked a bit confused at first, but he cheered up at the sight of #18.

"Cyborg girl make it! You well?" he asked.

#18 sighed, "Yeah, it's over, but the guy who possessed your friend got away, and we can't sense him."

Buu aimed his forelock at Dan and healed him quickly with it.

Dan grumbled as he finally awoke, and when he discovered Oyatsu's presence clear of him, he actually jumped up and cheered, "Oh my god! He's finally gone! Thank you guys! I appreciate all you've done, even if it put my body through hell and back."

"Don't... sweat it Dan, but it was #18 here who saved all our asses, not us." Teresa replied.

Dan looked to #18, who just simply looked back, "Um, thanks then #18. Sorry about all the shit I did. That guy definitely stuck it to us all. Where is he, anyways?"

#18 sighed, "He knew Kai Kai, or instant translocation. The same thing the East Kaioshin can do. He could be ANYWHERE, and the worst part is that I couldn't sense his energy at all when he was here, except while he was inside of you, so I can't find him now. We're gonna have to keep on our toes, because he might pull this shit again, and I don't feel like having to save your ass a second time." she then ended grumpily, as she had learned by scanning the shrinker that there was a reverse setting that would undo the effects.

She quickly placed all of the shrunken Misfits in one gathered area, and shot the large enlarging laser over them. Soon, Radditz, Alex, Paula, Heero, Virgil, Steve, Dwayne, Dusty, Clint, Devin, Piccolo, #17, Goku and Vegeta had all grown back to full size. Although most of them were still either unconscious or out of it, Buu went to work and quickly healed all of them as fast as he could. Soon they all awakened, and Piccolo's arms had even been regenerated without a temporarily loss of powerlevel due to Buu's methods.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 8:15am; Canton, Ohio)

After getting to their senses, the other Misfits had asked about the entire situation. Many of them had first thought Dan really had been the culprit, but Goku, Vegeta, #18, Nina, Buu and Teresa vouched for him, but then #18 had to give them the bad news that Oyatsu had gotten away, and that she had not been able to sense him at all even before he did. Goku was shocked to find out that Oyatsu knew the East Kaioshin's Kai Kai. However the biggest shit hit the fan when Nina, Teresa and #18 had to reveal that Dan had not only been pushed to become a Super Saiya-jin, but that he had also reached 2 and then 3. Although Dan did attempt to transform back to 3 again, he was barely able to keep hold over 2 without almost passing out. He realized that without Oyatsu, he didn't have as much power as he did with little holding him back at the moment12.

Alex, Jason, Vernon and Vegeta were very mad to find out that three eyewitnesses were saying that Dan had managed to become a Super Saiya-jin 3 where they had not been able to yet. Vegeta however appeared to be the most angered and jealous, having tried for 10+ years without success to attain the form. Alex was a close second, and Jason wasn't happy either. Vernon was neutral, realizing Dan might still prove to be quite powerful after all. Piccolo had also been shocked to learn of Dan's Saiya-jin DNA, but Dan hastily still reminded him their bet was still on, and Piccolo grumbled at him about it. Clint was just taking it all in stride, while Radditz was actually quite impressed, although he was disappointed Dan could not hold 2 for too long, but with more training, he felt Dan might be able to overcome that without having to be possessed.

Basically, Dan was pardoned for his 'questionable' actions, however Radditz was in for some heat when Piccolo and #17 had told the others he had been trying to plant a Sensu plant. Radditz explained he would've told them, except that he didn't think the plant was actually growing well. Although Piccolo didn't yell at him, he did mentioned that Korin seemed to be the only one who could properly make sensu beans.

Soon, the rest of the team got time to induct #18 into the Misfits.

#18 didn't really show any emotion to the declaration, but she spoke over to her brother, "Well #17, I finally got here, so now what do I do? Just hang around you guys, or do I train someone too?"

#17 looked over in amusement, "Maybe I could take you to Carlson's Lot and get you a motorcycle. Piccolo and I could use some competition." Piccolo scowled at #17's comment, but didn't speak on it.

#18 decided, "No thank you, I don't care so much about driving as you two do. I think I'm going to train someone as well, or just hang around in close to #17. Where are you living anyways?" she then asked.

"Piccolo and I are staying over with Vernon, since we're his original trainers. I'm not sure if you'd be able to get in or not. We'll have to ask." #17 replied.

"Nevermind, I think I'll make due on my own place." #18 chuckled at him.

After that, a small more amount of jabber went up among the 20 Misfits, until Dan had decided to look through all the stuff in the overcoat Oyatsu had brought with him. "Maybe this stuff will actually give us more information on who he really is." he suggested.

However Teresa suddenly called their attention, "Radditz, you lost your old scouter, right?"

"Yeah, how can I forget?" he said, looking at Dan with a small glare, who cowered slightly.

"Well, I think the trade off was well worth it, take a look at these capsules." she cheered as she threw two blue-colored scouters onto the ground. In their place appeared to be large briefcases. However when they opened them, inside were rows of scouters. Each briefcase had 14 rows of ten scouters, each different colors, including Green, Pink, Red, Yellow, Cyan, Blue, Navy Blue, Purple, Orange, Dark-Silver, Light-Silver, White, and then finally clear-lenses on the bottom. Another suitcase was basically identical in contents, except the scouters all had stripes of different colors on their shells, and a strange insignia painted over the earpieces. The only difference were that there had only been nine of the blue-lensed ones. Teresa sweatdropped, realizing the missing scouter in this briefcase had probably been the one her energy clone had destroyed earlier.

Vegeta and Radditz had expressed looks on their faces that reminded one of a boy opening a large Christmas gift. Vegeta gaped at the many 'overclocked' scouters in the second briefcase, "This... this has to be some dream!"

"What's the big deal about these 'overclocked' scouters anyways?" asked Paula quizzically.

Vegeta looked at her, "They're only what you would call 'the Holy Grail' of scouters! I know scouters are not of best use anymore on those who can lower their powerlevels, but these scouters are unique in the fact that they cannot be overloaded to the point of exploding like the old models. Also, the reason they're really called 'overclocked' is that they can scan powerlevels higher than the 'normal' version of the same colored scouter. Also, there appear to be lens-shades of scouters that I've never seen before.13"

Dan then realized, "I remember Oyatsu using the blue one from earlier on Piccolo and #17, their readings actually climbed to nearly 95 million on those!"

"WHAT! Are you serious!" Radditz jumped up in shock. Vegeta reached over and grabbed the next color-code down, a Navy Blue scouter, and put it on his ear. He then looked over and pressed the button on the side, and his eyes went agape when he saw Buu's powerlevel.

"These scouters... are unbelievable, I can actually see Buu's true powerlevel. It's around 623 million degrees!" Vegeta yelled in shock.

"Really! Wow, that is unbelievable... these might actually still serve a purpose after all in training sessions! There's also so many of them I'm sure we can actually give one to each of us of some kind." Goku had replied, and then suggested. However, Dan was still rooting through some of the other capsules, until he found what looked like a slightly mangled capsule in a lower pocket.

"Hmmm... what the hell does this one have in it?" he wondered as he pressed the button and threw it to the field.

As it uncompressed, it revealed a sight that made Goku and Vegeta's mouths fall almost to the ground, but Goku's far more. "No... no way! There's just no way that can be!"

"What? What is it Goku?" Piccolo asked, a little amused at this.

"It's... it's the spaceship Dr. Briefs made for me to go to Namek over 20 years ago!14"

"The same one that was destroyed when Frieza destroyed Old Namek!" Alex had then realized as well that it did look familiar, yet really banged up.

"Yes Alex, the very same one."

It was then that Devin looked at the ship with a strange glee, "Then... that means it has..."

"A GRAVITY CHAMBER!" Dusty finished as he ran up to the banged up ship, followed by Clint, Vernon, Alex and Dan.

"Guys wait! Nothing in there probably works anymore!" Goku warned them, although he noticed the vertical rotating door open up, although slowly, enough to allow the five Misfits inside, where they saw the vertical pillar-like machine which could control a field of gravity on the upper level of the ship. Dan ran over to the controls, and attempted to dial in the buttons to turn it on, but to his dismay, he got nothing but dead air. Goku and Vegeta had followed them from behind.

"I told you, this ship is 20 years old, not to mention it should be space dust. I'm surprised the door still opened." Goku replied, "I mean, how the hell could Oyatsu have gotten my old ship when everyone except me and Frieza had been wished off of Namek before it exploded?"

"Didn't #18 say Oyatsu knew Kaioshin's Kai Kai? I mean, if I remember, that's the teleportation that doesn't require a ki signature for a destination. He might have somehow teleported there after Porguna's wish was made, and compressed the ship and ran off with it." Nina had suggested.

"Who knows really?" Vegeta piped in, "But it's too bad Bulma's not here. I'm sure she'd fix this thing up in a hurry."

"Yeah, we need gravity machines in general around here. Our training is slowing down." Devin remarked. Paula had felt guilty at that remark, knowing Nina could easily help them, but Nina would probably go into a long explanation about them not being ready again.

"Hmmm... maybe I could find a way to fix it. I have a garage at my place where I was looking over the original Concussion Pulse Gun when I got possessed by Oyatsu, maybe he left something there that can help me fix it, or maybe there's something else in one of these capsules." Dan replied, as he shooed his friends out of the ship, and hit the compression button, reverting the ship to capsule form.

Goku just looked at him, "Well, if anyone CAN fix it, they'll have themselves a gravity machine that can go up to 100 times. I'm not going to hog it for myself, and Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, #18 and Buu probably don't need it either, so you guys can fight over it."

"Well, I say... training can probably just be called off completely today... too much shit going on, and not to mention, none of us can transform anyways, except Dan, due to Oyatsu's curse." Clint mentioned. At that remark, the others looked to Dan.

"Dan, speaking of the curse, do you have any idea when it'll fade away?" asked Goku.

Dan sighed, "The entire curse will fade away in time, but it will probably be about a week to 10 days at least. Also, the direct effects of the curse last 12 hours at a time, so don't say anything stupid like that for at least 10 or more days, okay?"

"12 hours? I guess I could take a break, for today. Tomorrow though, we should probably pick up our efforts. Oyatsu's taught us that we're still not ready for what lies ahead. It seems Dwayne, Steve and Dusty's mention of dark threats was not a lie." Goku replied.

After more talking over the matters of their harsh day and near brush with total defeat, they broke off from each other for a short while.

Dan and Teresa flew back towards Dan's own house, taking some of the capsules Oyatsu had left behind with him.

Radditz and Nina decided to head back to their place to rest off the day and to make sure the former would be able to get to work alright.

#17, Piccolo and Vernon all headed back to Vernon's house, while Goku and Vegeta had taken the scouters procured from Oyatsu and flew back with Alex to their own neighborhood.

Devin headed back to his own house as well, as did Clint to his place, and Jason to his place.

#18 flew off towards the center of Canton, stating she was looking around for a mall or another shopping area, while Paula split off to her house, and also Dwayne, Steve and Dusty heading back to Dusty's neighborhood.

Heero also decided he was going to follow after Dan and Teresa and talk with them, apparently wanting to get their past conflicts out of the way.

Buu headed back to the wilderness near Devin's lot to meditate.

Although they have won this battle by the skin of their teeth, and even gained a new ally in the process, Dan's possession would only be the first of many potential threats the Misfits are going to be facing down the road. Many strive for new goals, and to figure out why they are struggling in other affairs, while others still meander around on their own business of training, but the looming threat of Al-queda and even a potential return of Oyatsu hangs over them like the storm clouds which do not like to dissipate in the middle of a summer heat...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1 Concussion Pulse Gun** This was heavily inspired by Vile's shoulder-mounted Stun Cannon from the Megaman X series. The same one he uses to defeat X twice in the first game.

**2**** Oyatsu** "Afternoon Tea". He/She/It is named along the same line of name puns Akira Toriyama used for Puar and Oolong, and ironically, also Yamcha. They are all named after teas.

**3** **Durty Durt Dur ** A 'taunt' of sorts coined by Jason and Alex in their first year at Canton South. It basically is meant to poke fun at retarded people.

**4** **Shrinking Blaster** Inspired by the Shrinker in Duke Nukem 3D. That's the reason Clint can recognize the gun and it's function(he's played DN3D). It's also part of the reason he tried to reflect the shot off of a mirror. The "Expander" concept is slightly behind the use of the Reverse setting used to grow everyone back.

**5**_ **Note:**_ Depending on the version, Puar is depicted either as a male or a female. The original suggests Puar is a boy, while the English dubs refer to Puar as a she. However truth is we can't really tell if either Oolong or Puar are really male or female due to their ability to shapeshift, so in Misfits, Oolong is male, and Puar is female.

**6** Oyatsu can somewhat unlock the hidden powers within those he takes over or possesses, somewhat like Saichourou could unlock Gohan and Kuririn's hidden powers in the Namek saga. However it is probably better compared to Vegeta's "Majin" powerup, because usually the Majin powerup bounds you in a mental and spiritual way to the person who gave it to you.

**7** If you haven't paid attention to the animated version of Dragonball, Radditz originally used a Green-shaded scouter, which is believed to read up to 22,000 powerlevel, before exploding. Vegeta, Dodoria, and later Frieza each wore a kind of Red scouter, which had a much higher threshold of somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000. When Frieza tried to use it on Vegeta at the beginning of their battle, it exploded, so I estimated around 352,000 degrees. This is also a bit of why Radditz didn't know why his scanned higher before it exploded.

**8** Also, if you didn't know, Nappa appeared to possess a special one-of-a-kind scouter with a blue lens during the Saiya-jin Saga. Although in rage he breaks it at one point, I believe due to the fact it's the only one we ever see that it was probably much better than the Red scouters. In Misfits, this is why Radditz states this about a blue scouter.

**9** **Taiyoken** "Fist of the Sun" a.k.a. "Solar Flare"

**10** **Dodompa** "Dodon Ray" from the early Dragonball series. It's the attack Tao Pai Pai used to basically defeat Goku in their first meeting. Tenshinhan and Chaozu wield it as well.

**11** **Kienzan** "Energy Circle Slicer" a.k.a. "Destructo Disc" for the dubbies who still don't know by now. One of the deadliest ki attacks if aimed properly, able to kill off much stronger targets, or things that cut easily.

**12** Obviously, you outta realize that Oyatsu was giving Dan excess energy well past what he is used to using. If you really though Dan was going to just be able to hold Super Saiya-jin 3, or even hold 2 for any real amount of time without him at this point, you're crazy. :P

**13** Overclocked Scouters are much more advanced than the original versions, and now our heroes will have a bunch of them to use, as well as normal scouters. I know I know, scouters began to lose their use in the Frieza Saga, but there's more to these scouters than merely reading numbers too. You'll see what I mean later. :P

**14** Yes yes, I know the entire situation sounds crazy. Trust me, I will eventually reveal the info on how the ship survived Namek's destruction. Idea wise, Devin actually suggested this to me, because of the gravity chamber inside of it. :P


	12. Part 11: Experiments, Discoveries and Ar

-----DISCLAIMER-----  
Nina © Capcom  
Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan, Neil © Themselves  
Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Piccolo, Juuanagou/#17, Juuhachigou/#18, Mr. Buu, North Kaio © Akira Toriyama  
Heero Yuy © Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd  
Steve Williams, Dwayne Johnson © Themselves (Their ring names are © WWE)  
Paula © Shigesto Itoi  
Jackson, Teresa, Oyatsu, Morgan, Harry, Rowan © Me  
-----------------------------

**Part 11: Experiments, Discoveries and Artifacts**

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 9:10am; Canton, Ohio)

It was not another 50 minutes later when Vegeta had decided to start on a project involving the many scouters he and Goku had gained from their battle with Oyatsu. Vegeta sighed to himself, not being too big on losing to someone who was using the body of one of his weaker allies. He had to give Oyatsu credit, he sure knew his stuff when it came to Goku and Vegeta's secrets. Oyatsu had taken all his time over a 30 or more year period to learn everything he could from the shadows, and it had almost paid off. If not for the combined efforts of Teresa, Nina and... yes, even #18, Vegeta sourly admitted to himself, he, Goku and their Misfit allies would've suffered a serious, and possibly permanent defeat. He also felt a lot better off when he found out even Goku, Buu, Piccolo and #17 had been taken for fools the same as he had.

However that was in the past for the time being. Vegeta grumbled as he wired a few disconnected wires together inside of a Purple overclocked scouter he had started working on. He himself had admitted that scouters would not be too useful when he or the others were holding back their powerlevels, but it offered more than merely a reading of someone's power. He smirked to himself, remembering how he and Nappa had even found Earth in the first place because of the scouters. Radditz had gone to Earth, intending to recruit Goku to their side, which ended up in a battle, fatal for both brothers, skewered on Piccolo's Makankosoppo beam. Even though Goku came back within 11 months, and Radditz nearly 20 years, it was that battle that prompted Vegeta and his ex-partner to come to the Earth, for a wish on the Dragonballs.

"These damned transmitters have been both a curse and a boon to us in the past." he sighed to himself, referring to the vocal transmitters which he knew had been present in all scouters since the days they had been introduced to Frieza and his planet trade.

Frieza and his family had realized that as good as being able to see one's powerlevel was, giving the apparatuses the ability to allow communication had made them much more valuable. The scouters allowed communications over several light-years, as Frieza himself all the way at his base planet had learned from Vegeta's battle on Earth with Goku of the Namekian Dragonballs, leading to the great conflict on the green planet... the same battle which finally confirmed the legend of the Super Saiya-jin, and the defeat of Frieza.

Vegeta knew that if he could reactivate the transmitters in Oyatsu's scouters, he, Goku and their Misfit allies could use them for various forms of communication without having to use the more primitive 'phones'. Vegeta wasn't a big person with using phones of any kind. He had been so used to using the scouters since he was younger, and the idea of the phone was just too awkward to him, even when Bulma and her family had cellular phones, which were more portable, but much more fragile.

His head perked up a moment, but then he grumbled with a sigh, "Just Kakarott in the backyard." he said to himself.

Goku had earlier offered to help Vegeta with his project, but the Saiya-jin Prince claimed he could handle it fine on his own, and said that Goku had little if any real experience handling an actual scouter, and that Vegeta had come upon times he could fix a salvageable scouter before, hence why he didn't need Bulma's help for it. He had told Goku to go out and train on his own, within the limits of what he could do for the time being.

He growled silently. If there was one thing he really hated Oyatsu for though, it was the damned "Durty Durt Dur" curse he had placed over a forty mile radius. He and Goku, along with about any other Misfit he knew that could utilize a Super Saiya-jin form could not currently transform for about 10 to 12 hours. Oyatsu had directly hit them with the curse during each of his individual confrontations with the groups of Misfits. Dan was the only one who could transform completely, since Oyatsu had invoked the curse before he managed to unearth Dan's ability to transform as well.

_Dan... dammit! Just how many of these people are Saiya-jin anyways! Where are they all coming from!_ he thought deep to himself.

He knew Alex, Vernon, Jason, Clint and now Dan could transform. He knew Goku and Radditz were Saiya-jin already, but it was the other five who made him wonder. Although Oyatsu admitted to them that Dan wasn't even a half-breed, he claimed Dan still had the gene that allowed transformation. And so far, Clint had not proven to even have a drop of Saiya-jin blood, not to mention that creepy tinge of green in his hair when he transformed.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 9:16am; Canton, Ohio)

Outside the house, Goku and Alex were partially lounging around in the large yard that now basically connected to their houses. Goku had been doing light training, and Alex was in and out of doing a small kata, and lounging around himself. Although he wanted badly to train seriously and get stronger, he had no luck transforming to Super Saiya-jin or Super Saiya-jin 2 since he had been freed from Oyatsu's bottles. He growled at the thought. Although Dan himself told him that Alex would probably be able to transform sometime after 6 that evening, he was still a bit impatient about it.

_Damn that sneaky asshole Oyatsu! He's almost as bad as Jackass! Except I don't think Jackson would be able to plan something this complex for us._ Alex growled mentally.

He was not happy he had been defeated so easily. He swore if it had not been for that damn curse, he and/or Paula would've easily stopped the shapeshifting possessor. Between one of the two, Oyatsu would have not stood a chance. Although he wouldn't admit to Paula he'd need help, at least definitely not to her face. His Saiya-jin pride was the primary reason for that little detail. Alex believed he alone should be able to defeat the enemy he fights, and not have help from the others so much.

As for Goku, he was in deep thought. Not being able to transform either was a little hard for him to get used to. He realized he probably couldn't train all too well without going to full power. Oyatsu had definitely if nothing else at least delayed their training for a short amount of time. Not being able to use anything but base level was frustrating, but at the same time, it gave the experienced saiya-jin a nostalgic feeling in his heart. He began to think back to the simpler days when he had never even knew he was of an alien fighting race. He remembered of the times he lived with who he had believed to be his grandfather, the elder Son Gohan, and how up until he had gone Oozaru for the second time in his life that they had lived happily in the Paozu Mountains.

He reflected violently on that thought... he never liked the Oozaru form, despite at one time having his tail and being able to use it. He had learned in his first battle with Vegeta of how Saiya-jin became Oozaru, or Were-Apes at the sight of a full moon, much akin to the legendary Werewolf. He realized back then it had been he, and not a different monster who had accidentally crushed his grandfather to death when he had been younger. He shed a silent tear. He had still not been able to find his grandfather while dead again to apologize to him about that fatal night. Despite his seven-years between the Cell and Majin Buu eras, he had never found his grandfather, or he had been being trained so much that he could not find other time to look**1**.

However he suddenly snapped out of his nostalgic thoughts when an ingenious idea smacked him upside the head.

"Of course! That might do for a training method!" he said to himself. He looked over and noticed Alex had gone back to doing his kata, and had not heard his declaration.

_I wonder if he'll remember this ability from that show about us._ Goku asked himself.

He bent down slightly, and tensed his muscles. He focused calmly, not having tried to use the technique he was preparing to do in such a long time. A technique he had retired after he started to master the Super Saiya-jin levels. His aura began to flare up, and Alex looked over with slight curiosity, but he mistook it as another attempt of Goku's to focus energy into a transformation.

Goku's eyes narrowed quickly, "KAIOKEN TIMES FIVE!"

That had gotten Alex's attention, as he looked over to see Goku's aura instantly turn a blood-red, as it began to pulse erratically.

"Shit! Kaioken! How could I forget about that!" Alex said, wanting to smack himself over the head, as he realized he probably would want Goku to teach him that as well. Alex sensed that Goku's powerlevel had climbed dramatically, but it was lower still than Vegeta's powerlevel when a Super Saiya-jin 2, so Alex had guessed he was at a Super Saiya-jin 1 1/2 status instead of 2.

Goku smirked to himself, as he realized he was holding firm control of his Kaioken x5, "I can go up to five. Let's try ten... KAIOKEN TIMES TEN!"

Alex sensed on in astonishment, as he felt Goku's powerlevel soar again, and the aura around the older Saiya-jin's body began to look more wild, yet firm at the same time. Alex sensed that Goku was only slightly weaker now than he normally would be at a Super Saiya-jin 3 status.

"Damn Goku, that's fuckin' impressive! You can still use Kaioken moderately well after all these years!" Alex complemented as he tried to get in a bit closer.

"Thanks Alex, but I'm not quite done yet. I'm only at times ten. I could go to times twenty before I learned Super Saiya-jin." Goku replied, and Alex gasped in shock.

"OH SHIT. I better get back a bit!" Alex quickly jumped back nearly 2 or 3 yards, and Goku bent down a couple more inches.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!" Alex gasped in a mix of glee and horror as he felt Goku's powerlevel skyrocket further, and he could swear Goku's powerlevel would have probably breached one or two billion by now, more than that of what he believed becoming a Super Saiya-jin 4 could do for Goku if he could use it at this point.

He looked over at Goku, who now looked like he was a little more stressed. He then recalled while Goku could go up to twenty times with a Kaioken, he didn't use anything above ten very often and usually only sparingly. Goku then realized he wanted to see if he could do anymore before he gave out. "KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY-ONE!"

Alex gaped on in surprise as Goku's ki flared slightly more erratically than before, but he realized as well, "He just surpassed he could do against Frieza on Namek! He must've wanted to see if he could do it for the sake of doing it." He then watched as Vegeta had walked out of the house, with a Purple overclocked scouter plastered over his face, looking on at Goku with an expression of shock.

"1,766,100,000? Kakarott? How're you doing..." but then he realized what his fellow Saiya-jin had been doing, and could help but smirk, "So you never lost that overrated multiplying power of that Kaio I see. That powerlevel might seem impressive, but I know you can't hold it for too long, not without a lot more training." Vegeta replied.

Goku looked over, "I know that Vegeta, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I could still do it the way I used to." He then relaxed as he finally released all the excess energy, and powered down to regular base level.

"84,100,000." Vegeta then stated when he noticed Goku's powerlevel had finally stabilized. He then scanned himself, "83,700,000. Pah! You're still stronger than me in base, you baka." he grumbled, a bit jealous of the 400,000 difference between them.

Alex looked over though at Goku, "Goku... um might I ask you something about the Kaioken?"

"Dammit Kakarott! I bet I know what he's going to ask too!" Vegeta interrupted.

Alex scowled back, "If you do, what's the damn problem?"

"As I said, the Kaioken is an overrated technique. In my opinion, it has too many weaknesses for it to be an effective battle saver." the Saiya-jin prince argued back.

"Goku sure used it to humiliate you in your first battle, if I recall!" Alex snarled back with a raspberry, making Vegeta grumble.

"Don't remind me of that." he replied, "But his friends were the reason he ended up beating me, not the stupid technique."

Alex smirked, "Yeah, but I know Goku can use times ten with little drain on himself now, so eventually if you keep using it, you must be able to get better with it."

Goku chuckled, "That might be true Alex, but that ability comes with experience, which we still outdo you with by far at the moment. If you want to learn the Kaioken, I don't mind teaching others how to do it, as long as they actually care to ask, but I doubt you're going to go higher than five without getting killed for a long time, the same for all your other friends."

Alex grumbled at that remark, "Whatever you say Goku, and yes, I do want to learn how to use Kaioken. Maybe, just maybe I will one day be able to personally prove Vegeta wrong myself."

Vegeta smirked, "It's going to be years before that will even think of happening, brat, so I hope you're ready to wait a very long time."

Goku looked to his older ally and asked, "So are you finished with your project yet?" Vegeta narrowed his eyes slightly as he pulled another Purple overclocked scouter out of his pocket, and tossed it over to Goku.

"Kakarott, put this on, and fly off about a mile away or so, I want to test something." the prince asked, as Goku caught the scouter.

Goku put it on his face, and pressed the button. He had noticed Vegeta really was at 83.7 million, and Alex was around 32,500 now. "Alex, before I go, you're at 32 and a half thousand degrees now. You apparently healed well, because I last remember you were around 28 thousand according to Radditz."

Alex smirked, "Sweet, I forgot for a bit since I'm Saiya-jin, I get a lot stronger when I heal from a bad injury."

Vegeta grumbled impatiently, "Kakarott, test, scouter, now."

"Sorry, sorry." Goku replied sheepishly and quickly flew off north about a mile, about to the point he was at the Giant Eagle grocery store on West Tuscarawas Street. He then stopped moving, apparently to signal to Vegeta to start whatever test he wanted to. He noticed several more powerlevels gathered a little east of Alex and Vegeta's own, most scaling in or around 20,000.

"Devin's gang must still be deciding to get in some amount of training. I forgot, most of them don't have transformations, so the curse doesn't really ruin their day too much." Goku replied.

He then suddenly heard Vegeta's voice in his ear, "Kakarott! Kakarott are you there!"

Goku then spoke out, "Um, yeah I'm here Vegeta. Why do I hear you when you're still over by Alex?"

He was surprised to hear Vegeta reply back, "It means my handiwork paid off. Remember when you and the Namek first fought Radditz, and you managed to defeat him. He mentioned his scouter had a vocal transmitter in it."

Goku then perked up, "Wait I understand now, you were working on the transmitters, getting them all working so we can communicate better, didn't you?"

"Correct, Kakarott. Now that I know that overclocked scouters have transmitters in the same vein as normal scouters, I can wire up the other 137 of the overclocks we got in order to create a more efficient communiqué between us." Vegeta replied, a bit impressed Goku had figured out his idea so fast.

"That's great Vegeta! I almost forget the scouters could work like walkie-talkies!" Goku replied.

"Yes... now that you mention it, this reminds me when our sons got a set of walkie talkies and they would blab to each other all night when they should've been sleeping." Vegeta remarked, referring to 8-9 years ago, when Goten and Trunks had gotten into the walkie-talkie business. Being such good friends, they claimed they wanted to keep in touch more often, so Bulma had bought the two a pair of walkie-talkies, but it was one of this situations Vegeta wondered if he could've avoided if he had been there himself, as the two kids ended up keeping him awake on various nights with their chatter.

Goku on the other hand, was a little interested and returning to his neighborhood, since he knew Alex would probably want a scouter of his own soon, and not to mention he probably would want Goku to try to teach him the Kaioken soon. He picked up off the Giant Eagle roof, and flew back south to meet his two friends.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 9:58am; Canton, Ohio)

Meanwhile, the newest member of the Misfits had decided she would try to gather up the other fellow women of her new group of allies. #18 had decided since she was going to start off by finding a good shopping center that she should probably at least try to take Nina along with her. She had gone to Nina's house a short time after she and Radditz had gotten settled in from earlier, and spoke up with Nina. Radditz had heard in on this, and said for Nina not to worry about him, and that he would either go to Devin's group, which had apparently decided to keep training, or go over to see Dan, Teresa and Heero, all at where Dan's house was probably located. He took off to the air and flew off, deciding to find Dan's group first to talk to them. Nina had decided that she probably deserved a break, and a chance to get to know her newest ally better, and agree to go with #18, who had suggested they go to Mellet Mall, or Canton Centre Mall first. Nina warned they probably wouldn't find much there, as the condition of the mall had been deteriorate since she had first arrived in Canton herself, but #18 mentioned about not knocking it until they tried it.

However Nina had realized that Paula had been talking to her the day before at McDonalds about wanting to go shopping for stuff to spruce up her new house, and she had suggested to #18 of bring her along. She had thought about going to get Teresa as well, but she realized with the havoc that Oyatsu caused that Teresa probably wanted to keep a vigil on Dan for a while to make sure he didn't have any aftereffects from his possession. It had only took them about 10 minutes to drop by Paula's house, and convince her to stop meditating on her bed and go with them. Paula sighed, realizing her place still needed remodeling, and had gone with the other two girls and had arrived at the mall, not realizing Goku had been near the area only about 40 minutes ago. As they entered, #18 and Paula looked around curiously, never having been in this mall before. Nina had grumbled though, having been here at least 3 different times in the past.

"So where exactly should we start?" she asked, a bit impatiently.

"What's the main company for fashion stores around here?" #18 asked.

"GAP I think." Nina replied, "But I'm not sure there's one here anymore. As I said, this place has been losing quality since mid-2000."

Nina had then decided to walk the three of them over to where she believed there would be a fashion store. Although they did not find the store they had been originally looking for, #18 had spotted a store that she wanted to look at. As she walked in, she frowned at Paula and Nina, who didn't follow her in.

"What're you two waiting for?" she asked.

"No offense #18, but I don't need new clothes. I got some back in Tokyo a couple weeks ago." Nina replied.

Paula looked over, "I don't care about those types of clothes. I'm here to find collectables. I'll meet up with you later #18."

#18 shrugged, "Okay then, your losses." she then walked in, leaving the other two to talk a little.

"So exactly what are you looking for anyways?" Nina asked Paula, as they walked over to a store near the west side of the mall, which Paula had pulled them towards upon seeing it. When Nina looked inside of it, she found many plush animals where in the window.

"There, that's more of what I'm looking for." Paula replied, staring specifically at the teddy bears inside the store.

"Plush toys?" Nina asked.

"Trust me, I've learned the usefulness of a good teddy bear in battle**2**. Although that's not the real reason I want them. I've collected them since I was a little girl." Paula replied, as she walked inside the store. Nina nodded, understanding this. She felt Paula was luckier than her, for at least the other girl had a normal enough life to have some kind of hobby. Nina's hobbies were more mystical, and not material like Paula's.

Paula had quickly found many exotic looking teddy bears, and even a few other non-bear plush toys she had grabbed on the way through the few aisles in the store. After about 5 to 10 minutes of looking, both girls had finished their buying. Yes both. Apparently Paula had found Nina one or two plush toys that actually got the older winged girl's attention. Paula paid the meager $34.73 for all the animals, and the two of them walked out, and Nina saw over at a store called Kay-Bee's Toys, a place she knew some of her younger friends went to in their lives.

"Look at that place, Paula. That's one of the places the others liked to go when they had been younger. Lots of video games and other little toys. I know Clint came here a few times. He even came here once with me to check on this place and the nearby bookstore." she had told Paula.

"Clint doesn't strike me as a bookworm though." Paula replied.

"Not like a geek-like bookworm. I mean he used to go there to buy gaming magazines and strategy guides. Alex got a couple of his from here too if I recall." Nina replied.

"How many of them like to play video games anyways?" Paula asked.

"Pretty much all of them do. Clint, Vernon, Devin and Alex I know for sure play a lot of games. I'm not so sure if Virgil has any though. His mom is very strict with him, because he likes to act like a fool in school." Nina replied.

"Nina, I know most of you guys aren't the highest on the social chain, but... Jackson makes me cringe when I think of him. I can't see how someone like him can be so filled with hate." Paula replied.

Nina frowned again at the mention of Jackson's name, and explained to her a bit of the odd triangle of contempt that she and Alex had formed between them and Jackson. Paula was a bit shocked to learn that Alex had had to use a wheelchair at some point or another, and was appalled with Jackson's backstabbing, but she just couldn't understand why people, least of all Jackson could hate her simply for her wings.

"I don't hate your wings. I think they have a sense of odd beauty to them." Paula had told her after that, and Nina suddenly chuckled at her, and explained that her friend Katt had apparently said the same thing about her wings in the past when they had still been getting to know each other.

Paula was happy to know she hadn't been the only one with that thought, and she then wondered about Oyatsu and the events earlier of that day. She didn't understand just why she suddenly shifted to those thoughts. She wondered if Oyatsu might have had some kind of connection to Jackson. She didn't understand why, but it lingered in her mind.

She then asked, "Nina, do you think Jackson might have something to do with Oyatsu?"

Nina furrowed her eyes a bit, but replied, "No. Jackson would not be connected with someone like Oyatsu. I saw his true form Paula, he would've been shunned by Jackson just the same because he appears to be a kind of cat in his true state. That alone isn't what would get him shunned, it would be the fact a talking cat would be a 'freak' in that asshole's eyes."

"I see. I had to ask at least." Paula replied.

"So is there anything else you need to get?" Nina asked.

"Well, I agree with you about the condition of this place. It's not what I deem the greatest." Paula replied, in fact witnessing a group of 3 random idiots hanging around the water fountain about 20 feet away, harassing people as they passed.

Nina looked in her direction and caught sight of the idiots, "I think I recognize a couple of those clowns." she stated and then realized something, "Oh boy. #18's gonna probably get harassed by those guys when she comes looking for us. Maybe we should get to her first. I don't want her fighting with one of them, she'd kill them easily."

Paula nodded as the two of them quickly walked over, and past the small group of idiots, ignoring their cat calls, or in one case, an insult directed at Nina's wings, something about making a good hunting trophy, which made Paula growl slightly. She almost wanted to turn around and chew the bastard out for saying that, but she knew better than to start a fight, especially when her enemy stood no chance against her. She didn't like to promote needless violence anyways.

She did whisper at Nina though, "Man, those one guy's a total jerk."

Nina shrugged, "Feh, I've learned to just shrug off their insults. Even the hunting trophy one didn't really bother me. I could kick all three of their asses with all my limbs, including my wings tied. I'm sure you could too, except you don't got wings of your own."

Paula chuckled at that. They soon reached the fashion store, but #18 had not come out just yet. They did spot her inside though, carrying about 20 bags of clothing.

Paula looked on with a perplexed expression, "Does she really need that many clothes?"

"I just remembered, that #18 is a big shopping freak. I hadn't see her on the show in such a long time, so I forgot the extent of her fashion craze." Nina replied, a bit shocked herself. The two younger women decided to sit on a couple of benches, but Paula had been looking silently back and forth between #18 and the idiots at the water fountain, now harassing a few more people as they passed. Something about their idiocy was making her uneasy for some reason, despite the fact none of them were really paying attention to her or Nina anymore.

Soon, #18 walked out of the store, and walked up to the other two women. She looked at their bags, "So you two did get something after all." she then smiled giddily and held up her many bags, "Well, this should be enough for about a month. Where do you two want to go next?"

"First off, do you even know where you're going to live around here?" Paula asked, just a little curious if #18 had thought of a place to live.

The cyborg girl frowned for a moment, realizing Paula made a good point, "Maybe I should've thought this over just a bit more."

Nina sweatdropped, "Well, if you want a suggestion for a place to live for a while, try near the parks east of here. There are some decent houses you can rent, provided you have the money." #18 smirked, "Money won't be a problem. Unlike my brother, I tend to keep my money on me at all times. I still got at least 6.4 million zeni left from the 27th Tenkaichi Budokai. Being able to blackmail Mr. Satan can be quite helpful when the opportunity arises."

Nina and Paula sweatdropped at her remark, but decided not to ask her more on the subject for now. Nina just wanted to get out of the mall. Although the insults of the idiots at the fountain and others like them weren't a big deal to her, the fact many of these groups lashed out violently at anyone prideful enough to retort was the real reason she felt the mall was losing its' quality. Although Canton was an interesting place, the fact that gang members liked to roam various places made it dangerous in places for people with more or less normal power to tread around now-a-days.

However, Nina's day was about to get interesting. One of the idiots at the water fountain had noticed #18 walking out of the store. Although they had not immediately called over to her, they had noticed her talking to Nina and Paula, and it had gotten their attention in full, especially after Nina heard one of them say to his friends that he swore he had seen #18 somewhere before.

_Oh crap. I think one of those clowns recognizes #18 from the Dragonball show. I'd better get ready to hold her back from killing one of them._ Nina thought to herself.

However, she soon heard them talking among themselves, and she picked up a couple of lines that made her reevaluate her thoughts. Apparently they had concluded she, Paula and #18 were just in costumes and going to some party later on. She sighed in relief when they didn't comment much further on the subject.

She then realized, _They probably think my wings are fake, unlike Jackass does. I probably should tell Paula and quell her anger at those three so she doesn't dwell on this._ "Paula, don't worry about what that one idiot said about my wings. I know why he said it now. They think we're all in costumes." Nina spoke up.

"Costumes?" #18 asked, "What're you two talking about?"

"Those three guys at the water fountain behind you are usually jerks, and they like to harass people who walk by them. We went past them on the way over here, and Paula and I heard one of them insult my wings, but it turns out he thinks they're just props." Nina answered.

Paula sighed, "I guess I could forgive that, but why don't they recognize you two as being real anyways?"

"Well, it's only been about 2 weeks since the merger occurred. Most people in Canton, and other parts of the world probably haven't put two and two together like the three of us and our other friends have. That's why Dusty and his own gang have the advantage over them, since they realize the potential in the merger, and most other people don't. Hell, I don't think Teresa or those Al-queda operatives on the 11th had known anything about the merger or our powers when all that happened."

#18 chuckled, "They think I'm just some fan dressed up as myself. That's very funny to think about. Too bad those goofs don't realize the truth."

"Well, if you two don't mind, I'd like to get out of here before one of them possibly wisens up. We don't need to have these gangster jerks trying to train like us in order to capitalize a death grip over most of the other people in this city." Nina replied.

Paula nodded, "Indeed."

#18 sulked, "Fine fine... we'll go, but I hope you know of a new place to go, because I want to look around some more."

"Yeah yeah, I know a much better Mall anyways. It's about a mile or two north of us, so it's not a long trip." Nina replied, as the three girls got up and began to walk to the front exit, wisely avoiding anymore contact with the three jerks at the back water fountain. As soon as they knew they weren't being scrutinized, they took to the air and flew off northwards, Nina leading the way...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 10:16am; Canton, Ohio)

At Devin's vacant lot, he, Steve, Dwayne, Virgil and Dusty had continued training for the time being. Clint had briefly shown up to let them know he was taking training sessions off for the day, since he couldn't transform until around 6 pm that night, and also because he had other things he claimed he really needed to do. Heero was absent because he was still over with Teresa, Dan and Radditz over at Dan's house. Virgil was bored almost to tears, having no mallet to run around and chase people with, having destroyed it on Oyatsu's head earlier. Devin had mentioned that he would try to get his mallet reconstructed later on that day.

Devin had realized that without Heero and Clint around, there wasn't a serious reason to train much with each other that day. It had been more of a conversational day than a real training day. Devin was still curious about his energy sword attack that he had wounded Oyatsu with a while back, and what these anger flashes had meant. Dwayne and Steve were chatting and doing their own form of practice, being about even with each other, and Dusty and Virgil were simply chatting and throwing blasts at the ground. Well, Dusty had more of been showing Virgil how to use his ki for attacks instead of just movement.

However, only about an hour ago had Devin sensed the massive powerup Goku had undergone through his Kaioken sessions. Devin was perplexed when he first sensed Goku's power rise. He knew that his curse would last until 7-8 pm that night. However, he soon realized something.

"Son of a bitch! Now I understand!" he cried out loud at himself.

"Understand what?" Dusty asked.

Devin blinked at Dusty in disbelief, but then he remembered, "You don't sense that, do you? You just had to go run off before Goku would've taught you how to sense ki." Devin said, reminding Dusty of that, making him grumble.

"Hey I said I was sorry about that! I got really light-headed when I could fly. A lot of us ran off, I know that for sure!"

Devin shrugged, "If you say so, but what just happened is that Goku's power just skyrocketed three different times. At his best, he was well beyond his usual maximum as a Super Saiya-jin 3."

"How? That curse is still affecting him, isn't it?" Dusty asked.

"He's using Kaioken you doof!" Devin replied.

"Come again?" Dusty asked, not as aware of the nature of the Kaioken ability.

"It's a multiplying ability for powerlevel. Goku must've gotten desperate to do something, and thought of the Kaioken. I remember he used to use it until he first became a Super Saiya-jin. He only used it one other time after that, at least if that really did happen." Devin spoke, referring to a part on DBZ where Goku had used Super Saiya-jin and Kaioken together at one time to fight a warrior in the afterlife known as Pikkon**3**.

"Wait, an ability that can multiply your powerlevel?" Dusty was perplexed at this. Realizing he didn't have a Super Saiya-jin form, he figured learning this might help.

"Well yes, but it's not that simple. Inexperienced fighters can't use it too much, as it puts stress on the body in order to multiply powerlevel. Goku could get it up to twenty-times before he stopped using it, but he didn't use higher than ten for long periods of time." Devin stated.

"You think we could learn it?" Dusty asked.

"Probably. I'm gonna go ask Goku if he'll teach me. If you want to ask him, come along with me." Devin replied.

"Should we tell the others?" Dusty asked.

"Might as well. They'll never leave us a moment's peace if we sneak this kind of training in behind their backs." Devin said, although he had mixed opinions on telling Clint or Virgil. Clint could already get a lot stronger without Kaioken, and teaching it to him would make the gap between him and Devin much greater.

Virgil on the other hand... Devin didn't think he had the necessary training to understand it. In fact, Devin was curious if anyone else could learn the Kaioken. He recalled how the move's very creator, the North Kaio, had never actually mastered the move himself. He didn't understand that logic, but it didn't matter at the moment.

Devin called over at Steve and Dwayne, asking them about wanting to learn the Kaioken. The two wrestlers perked up at this opportunity, and went over to him, and Dusty had managed to bring Virgil over, mentioning of Kaioken. Although Virgil was skeptical of such a power, he figured he needed all the chances for more power that he could get. The five of them took to the air and flew over towards Alex's neighborhood.

It was then Devin realized, "Aw shit! That assclown's probably gonna get Goku to teach him Kaioken as well!" he grumbled, referring to Alex.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 10:44am; Canton, Ohio)

Although Clint had not missed Goku's massive powerup by any means, he did not really care at the time. He already had a good feeling what Goku had done, and knew he could just go and ask the older Saiya-jin about teaching the Kaioken another time. He had bigger things on his mind. After the attack of Oyatsu, he had grown worried of more attacks from future enemies. It was enough to make him realize that he needed to do a few various things of interest in the case he might not live through the next major battle. He had remembered on the 11th of the fact that Canton had almost been turned into a massive crater by the experimental bomb of Al-queda.

Although he had learned from Dan and Nina that Oyatsu had sent Al-queda after Dan, and had even supplied one of the operatives with the Concussion Pulse Gun, there had been no mention that Oyatsu had anything to do with the development of the experimental bomb Al-queda had made Teresa wear under her uniform that day, and it worried him greatly. This was another reason he had decided to take training off today. He was going to explore Canton, his old hometown.

His other friends were slightly aware that Clint had actually used to live in the Canton City School district until in December 1999, when his grandfather, Melvin Kliner, had a series of heart attacks, which had led to his ironic death on the 39th birthday of his father. It had not been long after that when Clint and his family and two dogs had moved to the wilderness area of Fohl Village, a quaint and peaceful trailer park which his grandparents had lived, inheriting their trailer. Clint did not initially take well to the change. Despite the fact that his parents welcomed the change in atmosphere, Clint was a city-person, and he had found there had been little to keep him busy outside of his house after he moved in down there.

From there on, he rarely left his house when school wasn't in session, due to the lack of interesting places and people to talk to. It was through his computer at home and later his new friends at Canton South that he would keep from losing his mind in the boredom. Another reason he hated the move was that he had his own share of friends that used to live in Canton, but he found most of them had moved on or left Canton some time after he had moved. In fact, he learned the house Nina and Radditz were currently living in was the same house a good friend from kindergarten had used to live before he moved out. He did not hold resentment to either of his two fellow Misfits for it, but it made him a little depressed to learn most of his friends in town had moved on.

Clint had originally come to Alex's house on the 3rd to learn how to use his ki simply for the purpose to fly. Clint had always wanted to learn how to either fly or teleport at will, even over battle-based superpowers. He knew if he could learn how to fly, the problem of travel would lessen, and he wouldn't make his parents so worried trying to head into town, which had been 2 or 3 miles north of his trailer. Although when Al-queda had attacked, and he personally had to save the day in the end from the experimental bomb, his strange ability to become a Super Saiya-jin had kicked in, and had been the reason he was still breathing after that day.

He had realized that perhaps he was destined to fight after all, and had gone with Devin's group to train to get to know his newer friends better, and to train his newfound abilities. However, after his near-fatal encounter with Oyatsu, who had used Dan's body and powers to defeat him and most of his friends, he realized just how unpredictable Goku and his friends had really had it in the past, and it taught him to be a bit more appreciative to what he still had left. That had been one reason he broke off for the day to explore Canton.

Although Clint had only seen a glimpse inside the city limits of random and unknown areas of Canton a couple of times since his move, he was no fool to the fact that violence and crime had began to worsen up, even before he had left his original house to his second one, the house prior to his current trailer. He knew that his own original neighborhood had its up and downs, but Clint felt he would never give it up for the world. He had sworn to himself one day that if he had ever gotten the necessary amount of money that he would rebuy the first house he lived in. However, it had made him wonder about the condition of the other two houses he had lived in at one point. He had been exploring near the western side of the city, along the route from Canton Centre Mall, to the westward city of Massillon.

He also knew the abandoned stadium Buu had found was located somewhere out here, and had been trying to find it to check it out when thoughts of his old homes jumped into his head. He had also stopped by the mall a while back, but ironically, he had arrived only 5 to 10 minutes after #18, Nina and Paula had left. Although he sensed the latter two girls' powerlevels, he didn't really give it much thought, and figured they had been shopping there. He knew Nina had been to Canton Centre Mall three other times. He had even gone with her one of those times to check the mall out over a year ago.

He realized he needed to explore more towards his original neighborhoods, and even the area near Nina's house, where his one friend had used to live. He could only wonder if the condition of Nina's neighborhood would be anything like what he remembered it when his friend lived there. As he began to fly northeast, he took a look over some of the area below him, including sections of Stadium Park, one of the parks somewhat close to his original homes, and part of one of the major highways. He then managed to find the 30th Plaza, which was only a little east of Nina's neighborhood.

After examining a few of the stores of interest, he picked up his pace and headed back west and reached Nina's neighborhood. As he examined it, it didn't appear to be too different in living conditions compared to the last time he had been there almost 4 years ago. He had managed to spot Nina's house, and looked over it with a grim feeling of nostalgia, and it made him wonder what Nina and Radditz had done to the place since his friend had moved out. He landed in the front yard, and knocked on the door, but to his dismay, all he had heard was a distant meow.

"That must be Mr. Oscar." Clint commented to himself.

Nina owned a cat named Oscar, who was the subject of many a joke connected to Alex and Vernon. Nina had a time or two shrunk the two boys down when their antics got too great to put up with, and one time on the plane to Tokyo, she had joked about feeding them to Oscar, being the size of mice. He soon realized though that both of the main occupants of the house were gone. He sensed out for Nina and Radditz, and found Nina was still with Paula, apparently to his northwest somewhere, and Radditz was well south and a bit to the east, close to Dan, Heero and Teresa's own kis.

Clint was about to just give up and head over to one of his old neighborhoods, but then he remembered something.

"Wait a second! Radditz mentioned he was growing a sensu plant in the backyard. I should go make sure if it's doing anything!"

He walked over behind the house, and into the backyard. As he remembered before, the backyard was composed of a hilled drop-off only about a foot from the back of the house, which he and the friend who lived here before would roll down in play in the past. He noticed near the bottom of the hill there was a small area where the ground had recently been dug up. Clint walked over to it and checked it carefully.

"I guess this is it. I don't really see anything here though. I guess Piccolo was right... I guess we're gonna have to be careful for a while."

He then turned back toward the hill, walking up, and back into Nina's front yard, and then he looked over in the direction where he believed his second neighborhood was. He was the closest to it at the moment, so he would stop by first. He picked up into the air and lifted off towards the southwest. As he left, he was not aware that the patch of dug up ground he had been looking at was not where the sensu plant had been placed, and under the shade of one of the nearby tress, a small vine was beginning to emerge out of the ground, concealed mostly in the shade to prevent looters and vandals from finding it.

As he flew around, he caught site of the old Video Safari he and his family would use to go during their times in Canton. He decided he had time to spare, and landed there, slowly entering the door. The clerk did not recognize him, but he didn't really recognize her either. As he looked around the Video stores, he recognized a few areas were in similar places. But he noticed most of the SNES and Genesis games in the front had been replaced by Gamecube, Playstation and Dreamcast games, and occasionally a shelf of Gameboy games in some form or another. He looked around towards the back, where other arcade games were, and as he was heading back, he heard a voice that made him jump up 5 feet.

"Clint-man! Strange seeing you in these parts!" the voice had said. Clint turned and caught sight of his art-teacher Mr. Christopher Bergert.

"M.. Mr. Bergert? What're you doing up here?" Clint asked, not really aware of where many of his teachers lived. He realized there was probably no school on that day, since it was Saturday, so Mr. Bergert was probably running around, doing various things.

"You probably don't know, but I live nearby." his art teacher replied in a normal voice. Although Clint was worried about Mr. Bergert being curious about his absence from school, the art teacher apparently made no attempt to show it.

"Where exactly do you live?" he then asked his art teacher.

"19th street, 640." Mr. Bergert replied.

Clint realized, _That's not far from Nina. I wonder if she's known about this._

Mr. Bergert looked at him though, "Sorry if I spooked you Clint-man. I didn't expect I'd see you around here. What brings you here anyways?" he then asked.

Clint mentally began to sweat bullets. His parents were not with him, and he didn't know how to drive, not that he had to know since he could fly. But he couldn't just tell Mr. Bergert he came here by himself. The art teacher would get suspicious, and despite the fact Mr. Knight knew more of less the truth about Clint and the Misfits, Clint himself had asked his principal friend not to tell anyone else about their training if he could help it. Mr. Bergert did not know of their training, and he was worried that something bad might result if he told any of his teachers, including Mr. Bergert.

He then came up with a lie, "I came here from Nina's house. She doesn't live too far from here either."

Mr. Bergert's eyes perked up, "Ah yeah, I remember she lives on 29th near the plaza. She's brought me over there one time."

Clint sighed mentally, and replied, "I'm kinda exploring a bit down Cleveland Avenue, since I haven't been in this neck of the woods in over 2 years."

Mr. Bergert looked at him with a look of understanding. He knew Clint used to live in Canton before he moved, so he understood Clint was nostalgic, "Don't let it bring you down Clint. You're getting out into the world well enough right now. You'll be fine." Clint was a bit confused to why he had said that, but decided it was just Mr. Bergert trying to be nice.

"Well, I didn't really see much of interest. My kind of stuff isn't really here anymore." he said, pretending to be a bit disappointed at the changes in the selection in the store.

Mr. Bergert apparently bought it and replied, "I guess I'll see you later. Good luck. See you again in 2 weeks."

Clint replied, "Alright then. Later Mr. Bergert." He then left the store, and walked across an intersection, and quickly dashed down a street, making sure Mr. Bergert might not have decided to follow him, and then he rose into the air.

He then thought to himself, "In two weeks? What did he mean by that?"

However, before he tried to make an attempt to fly too far, he realized something else. He was close to a school he had gone to before he was in high school. Lehman Middle-High School. He was only about half a mile away, and knew where to go from where he was.

"Maybe I should check with them. I haven't gone back there once since I graduated from there to go to Timken and then South." he said to himself, and quickly took off in the direction of Lehman, landing there within less than 2 minutes. He landed at the back entrance, an entrance with gave him great nostalgia again. He remembered how he would wait here for the morning bells to ring along with hundreds of other students. He walked around the perimeter of the school, even as far as to survey the fenced in football field in front of the school. He had more memories of times with his other friends down in the field. He had even had a few minor wrestling matches with one particular friend, and remembered how much more in shape he had been as a kid. He missed being a kid, no matter the fact he was a lot more powerful at the time. As he looked over the field, he heard a voice talking behind him. Although the voice was not directed at him, it rang through his head like a bell that would not stop swing. He looked over to the voice, and saw a tall, thin man with a white business shirt, a small tinge of gray in his hair, and closely cut hair. He soon remembered this face, even if he looked a little older. He walked in slowly, as not to disturb him as he was talking to another man near a pair of cars. It sounded like both were teachers who had stopped by the school to get some papers before they went back home.

After the two men had stopped talking to each other, the second had gone off to leave, and the first, the one Clint apparently recognized, looked to him, "Can I help you?"

"Mr. ElFaye?" Clint asked.

The man blinked once, "Yes, I am Mr. ElFaye. Do I know you?"

"Ted ElFaye, right? Or Sam?" Clint asked.

"Ted. You know of me and my brother? Hmmm... something about you seems familiar." the man replied.

"Mr. ElFaye, it's me, Clint. From your 6th grade math and acting classes!" Clint spoke up.

Mr. ElFaye looked at him and then his eyes showed realization, "Clint Walker? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm still doing alright. What about you and Sam?" Clint asked.

"Sam has been doing well up at his Technology Class at Timken, and I've moved over to a recent technology class of my own here. Although I still prefer math slightly more, it's been a wild ride." Mr. ElFaye explained to him, "What about you? Sam told me he lost track of you about 3/4s of the way through 2000."

"I had to move south. My grandfather died, and we inherited his trailer in Fohl Village." Clint explained, "I go to Canton South High School now. Although it's nice, I miss Timken, and I miss being up here in general."

"I understand what you mean. I had to move a couple of times in my life. I still miss Alliance, but I'm still plugging away. You been doing well down in South?" Mr. ElFaye asked.

"Well, things have been interesting, but I've also been a bit depressed, with what happened on Tuesday and all." Clint replied, looking down. Mr. ElFaye sighed, knowing exactly what Clint meant. Nearly no one wouldn't understand, considering Tuesday was the 11th.

"So what were you doing up here anyways?" Mr. ElFaye then asked. Clint decided he was going to start explaining a little of his recent weeks, including of how he had met some of the recent Misfits.

"Let's just say I've had to respond to a large role in life, something I'm not sure me or any of my new friends are ready for. We recently escaped a serious scathe today." he told his former teacher. Mr. ElFaye looked a bit confused, but before he could ask Clint another question, he suddenly saw his former student look southwards.

Clint narrowed his eyes, _What in the world? Paula's coming right my way! Oh crap, what does she want?_

Clint looked on as he saw Paula nonchalantly flying in close to the area, her form easy for Clint to recognize. Mr. ElFaye managed to see her flying their way, and was surprised.

"What in the world? Is that person... flying?" he asked.

"Yep... she's flying... I can do it too. I know her, she's one of my friends that I recently met, but what's she doing up here?" Clint responded with his own question at no one in particular.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 11:11am; Canton, Ohio)

Paula flew in closer, and quickly spotted Clint. She had been heading back to her own home when she had sensed Clint less than 2 miles north and slightly west of her. Curious to his presence, she had decided to just go to him immediately before landing at her house, and she had flew towards Lehman. She had been around this neck of the woods once, but she didn't really know much about the area. She had seen Clint in the school's front parking lot, talking to someone she had never seen before. She soon flew in near and landed about 4 feet away.

"Hey there Clint. What brings you up here?" she asked in a normal voice, not wanting to sound too curious.

Clint looked over at her, and sighed, "If you must know, I was exploring around Canton, and happened to come in nearby. I met up with an old friend, a teacher from 6th grade. Paula, this is Ted ElFaye. Mr. ElFaye, this is Paula." Mr. ElFaye nodded at her, and she did the same back.

"An old friend I see. Someone from back when you lived up here I take it." Paula inquired.

"Yeah, I was up here looking around since I realize with all that we had to deal with this morning, I might not have another chance to look around." Clint replied.

Paula narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "Don't even talk like that. You're not going to die anytime soon."

Mr. ElFaye of course had little clue of what she meant and asked, "What do you two mean by all of that?"

"Let's just say a lot more stuff then what happened on the 11th has recently occurred. We each separately battled an enemy who was after us. We both lost in our fights due to the guy's trickery. If it had not been for another friend of ours, we would've both probably died, as well as many other friends of ours." Clint explained.

Mr. ElFaye was still confused, "If you... say so."

Paula looked over to him, "Let's just say the world has changed in ways you may not believe. I don't know how to really explain it."

Clint looked back to Paula, "Why are you here anyways? You're not here to baby-sit me are you?" he looked at her with a slight hint of annoyance.

"No, actually I live nearby, and I sensed you less than a mile away from my house, so I wondered if you might have been looking for me, or some other thing, like this." Paula replied, ignoring the glare.

"You live nearby?" Clint asked, realizing he had never really tried to ask Paula of where she lived, nor she never really told many of the others.

"I live a few streets south of here. I was heading home from Belden Village Mall when I sensed you, and decided to make sure things were okay." Paula explained. Clint was curious now.

It sounded like Paula was living close to where his second house was located, "Ironic. I used to live in this area as well. Both of my old houses were south of here."

Paula had only vague knowledge from Nina that Clint had once lived in Canton, but neither girl really knew the exact locations of his houses. Mr. ElFaye had taken the time the two Misfits were talking, and had pulled out a pencil and paper. He tore off a written note and handed it to Clint.

"If you want to talk to me in the future, here is my phone at home. I'm sorry, but I must be going for now. I'll talk to you later Clint!" he said.

Clint looked over at him, slightly nostalgic, "Thanks Mr. ElFaye, I'll talk to you later too."

He watched his former math teacher get into his car, and drive off out of the parking lot, and down the western street, leaving him and Paula standing in the middle of the parking lot.

"So now where are you heading anyways?" Paula asked Clint first.

He looked over to her, "I'm gonna go see what's happened to the house I lived it nearer to here. As I said, it's only a few roads down from here."

Paula smiled, "I guess I'll come with you. I'll stop by my house and drop my stuff off if we pass it."

Clint looked at her with an thoughtful look, "You sure you want to?"

"Go ahead. I don't got much else to do. I just left from Belden. #18's a bit too much of a shopaholic, and Nina's heading back to her house, so I broke off and came back." Paula replied.

Clint chuckled, "I was just at Nina's house about 15 minutes ago, and I think it was just her cat there. Radditz is down by Dan and Teresa right now I also noticed."

Paula looked up, not realizing that Clint could sense ki, "Wait, you know how to sense ki?"

"Yeah... I know, I shouldn't have flown off earlier on the 3rd, but I later learned to sense energy on my own. I'm working on masking it, but I think I might be finally getting the hang of it." Clint replied.

Paula smiled, "Good job Clint."

"Um, thanks." Clint replied, as he picked up into the air and began to float off towards where he believed his house was. Paula did similar and trailed him from behind as the two left the Lehman school premises.

Clint had slightly veered east as he flew southward, with Paula still a few yards behind him. He looked over the busy intersection of Shorb and 12th street, as he continued moving south.

He had moved south a little more when Paula called out, "Wait, we're about to pass by my place."

Clint stopped and turned around, watching as Paula landed on the sidewalk in front of a light-yellow colored house, looking to be about 2 stories high.

When Clint had actually looked at the house in full, his heart nearly stopped cold, and he flew over slowly towards the house, his eyes agape, and stammering, "Yo... you live... here?"

Paula looked to him, confused, "Yeah I do, why the stammer?" She then saw Clint intensely looking the house up and down from the front, and then walking around the side of the house and looking it up and down. She followed him curiously, as he then rounded back behind the house, where a small garage was close to it. However Paula did not drive, and the garage was just open with nothing inside of it. Clint looked inside of the garage, the agape expression still on his face, as he looked one final time at the backside of the house up and down.

Paula cleared her throat to get his attention, "You okay Clint?"

Clint looked over to her, and then to her surprise, "You think I could go inside with you for a bit?"

Paula raised her eyes a bit, "If you really want. The place isn't really spruced up much since I got it. The upstairs hasn't been used in many years." she replied, "And most of the downstairs rooms are vacant."

Clint replied, "I don't mind really. I'm not one to be a judge of people's lifestyles."

Paula smiled, "Very well, I guess we'll go in through the back, since we're already here." she walked up to a transparent-patch door and opened it. When the two of them looked inside, Clint noticed two more doors right inside.

Paula noticed him looking at one, "That leads down to the basement, the one over here leads right into the kitchen."

Clint turned to her, "Right." Although he looked as if her words were unnecessary.

The two opened the door and walked into the kitchen. In one corner was a stove, next to a sink, and a refrigerator on the wall behind the sink. It looked like that next to it was a door, and then a small hallway. One another side of the room looked like a large room with a wooden floor, connected to another room with carpet which appeared to be a kind of living room.

Paula noticed he was staring in that direction. "That's the foyer and then the front rooms. There's a nice alcove further down, a good storage area. Take a look."

Clint immediately did just that. Paula noticed as he examined the place it was almost as if he were digging up old memories. It was then she finally realized the reason Clint was acting so strange.

"Oh my... can that really be true?" she said in a whisper, where Clint had not picked it up. Clint looked around the front room of the house. There had been nice looking shelves near the front door in this room, which had held priceless objects of interest. Near the east end of the room, there was a large couch. THAT couch. He remembered that couch perfectly.

"I... I don't believe this... fate has so many ways of surprising the hell out of us." he said out loud, but more to himself.

Paula however had heard it as she walked in from the wooden-foyer, "So I guess it's true. THIS is the house you used to live in, right Clint?"

Clint looked at her, a look of both understanding, and even amazement, "Yes. This is the second house I used to live in. The one before my grandfather died, forcing us to move to Fohl Village.**4**"

"I'm... I'm sorry." Paula replied. "Don't be sorry. You had no idea, I had no idea. It's just... amazing someone I meet later on in my life rents the same place we had to rent for about a year."

Paula chuckled softly, "I guess it makes sense. I remember Debbie, that odd landlord who used to own this place."

"USED TO?" Clint jerked his head up to look at her, "You BOUGHT this place from her?"

"Yep. I realize now the reason the upstairs is so filthy is due to the fact no one's used it for years. Did you ever get to see up there when you were here?"

"One time. My dad was curious to sneak a look at the upstairs, and he asked if I wanted to go along, so I did. I think there was a boarded up entrance in the basement that we had opened up to get there. Place was littered with cobwebs though, not much to it." Clint replied.

Paula nodded, "I know what you're talking about. A wooden board was covering something on the west wall down there, so I opened it up, and I found it was a way to the upstairs. I got a bit creeped out when I went up there. Trust me, you weren't wrong about the cobwebs. There's plenty up there."

Clint chuckled, "So afraid of spiders are we?" he joked.

Paula blushed furiously, "Hey, I'm not proud of it! But I've met vicious enough types of spiders that enforce a good reason for me to be weary of them."

Clint looked down, having a feeling now he knew what she was talking about, even if she herself couldn't tell.

He then looked up, and sighed, "I'm sorry... I'm not a fan of spiders either, neither is my mom. All three of us should join the anti-arachnid club or something." he then chuckled.

Paula smiled, "We may at that." She then got curious of something, "Now that I know you guys lived here at one time, I need to know something out of curiosity. Where was your bedroom? And your parents' bedroom?"

Clint got up off the couch and walked over past her into the wooded foyer, up to a door on the west wall, currently shut. "This room behind here is my parents' room."

Paula looked over at him, "That's where my bedroom is now."

Clint laughed, "Oh boy. I guess it makes sense." He then walked over into the kitchen, and then west ward, down a small hall, with a bathroom connected to it, as he passed, he asked Paula, "By the way, I don't know if you're aware, but that shower probably doesn't work. My mom is a shower person, and she found out there's both no cover, and some vital piece of the plumbing is blocking it out."

Paula grumbled to herself, "Yeah, I kinda found that out. I wasn't really happy. Thanks for at least telling me anyways."

She then noticed Clint had walked up to a door on the end of the small hall, next to another door. He pointed to that door, "This, my room, or was."

Paula slightly blush, "Oh boy."

"What? What did you do to it?" he asked in a semi-joking voice.

"Go in, and you'll see." she replied. Opening the door, Clint looked into what was his bedroom one time, to now find the floor and any furniture inside was littered with plush toys, primarily teddy bears. In fact, Paula walked in ahead of him, taking out a few of the teddy bears she had gotten from Canton Centre Mall and Belden Village Mall, and putting them on a more vacant shelf.

Clint looked on in astonishment, "So... so many... teddy bears... you turned my old bedroom into a teddy emporium?" he asked, chuckling at the irony.

"Hey, it's not like I knew this was your bedroom at the time, not that I'd care anyways." she said with a raspberry at him. Clint sighed to himself, and walked back into the front room of the house, sitting on the couch.

Paula followed him in, "So... what now?"

Clint looked to her, wondering, _Really... what now? Should I go and look around my original neighborhood? Well, I don't know... Paula might want to come with me. She said herself she had nothing to do. I'm not sure if I really want her there. I know the old neighborhood was slightly getting worse in status when I left, but for all I know, it could've deteriorate far worse than I'm expecting. I'm not sure what kind of impression she'd get from the place. Maybe I can wait here and hope she decides to take a nap, and then leave._

"Hey, do you think I can hang here for a couple of hours? I've got some time to kill. It's still before noon. I probably want to see if I can get a look at the attic soon."

Paula shrugged, "Well, I guess you can stay here for a bit. However don't think you can use this as a second house to live or anything, unless you're willing to pay rent." She added, half-jokingly.

"Yeah yeah, I figured as much." Clint said.

Paula looked over towards her bedroom, and she let out a yawn, "I'm going to go take a nap. The whole 'Oyatsu' thing kinda drained me from the start, and then #18 and Nina came around and about pulled me over to the two malls in Canton."

"You went to Canton Centre Mall?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, why?" Paula asked.

"Sensed you and Nina leaving as I was coming back from near Massillon." Clint replied.

"Oh." Paula said, and then yawned again, walking to her door, "Sleep... sleep sleep. Need sleeeep." she said as she walked in and shut the door behind her abruptly.

Clint chuckled mentally, _Sweet! She's tired. I'll wait until she gets to sleep and then I'll head off and look around near my neighborhood. I could pass the time waiting by going up to the second floor again. I wonder just how much worse it really got._ He thought to himself as he opened the kitchen exit and then opened the basement door, and walked down into his old basement, ready to explore the upstairs of his former second house...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 11:49am; Canton, Ohio)

At Waynesburg Drive, Dan was currently hard at work near his make-shift garage. He had re-uncompressed the capsule that contained Goku's mysterious 20-year old spaceship. He had been in and out of the ship many times, trying to get any kind of way to get the gravity chamber inside to work. Although he had discovered that the gravity engine itself was not totally destroyed beyond utter disrepair, he realized it was not going to be as easy as he was hoping. Many of, if not most of the major control wires to the ship in general were fried beyond repair.

Dan had quickly realized that it was dead as a general spaceship, but he found to his luck that no vital and currently irreplaceable components in the main gravity machine itself were damaged too badly. He was able to get the main module fixed, and at one point he had been able to get the display on the gravity machine to turn on, but the controls for changing the gravity itself were still out of order. At best, he had gotten it to reach 1.2x Earth's gravity, which was only a 20 difference, nothing that really hindered Dan all that much, basically worthless for any kind of real training.

Outside, Teresa, Radditz and Heero had been doing some small training. Mostly, they were talking amongst themselves though, much like Devin's group had ended up doing. Teresa had been able to explain how she had managed to get her hands on the scouters Oyatsu had been holding onto. She had explained that she had been approaching their usual training spot by van. Teresa remembered that she still had some delivery work to do, and was going to park her van nearby for quick access when she was done. However as she had gotten closer, she had sensed Dan and Radditz's kis. Dan's had not felt right by any means to her, and she had the feeling she wanted to be sneaky, so she had masked her powerlevel down to normal human level, and ran around from tree to tree to approach the area Oyatsu had confronted Radditz.

She had witnessed the invoking of the Durty Durt Dur curse on Radditz, and the two serious hits Oyatsu laid on the long-haired Saiya-jin. She had managed to see the capsule containing the shapeshifter's scouters fall out of his overcoat when Radditz had caught him off guard with his final blast. She had watched as well as he had fought with Alex and Paula, watching him use the curse on Alex, and tricking Paula with the Taiyoken attack. When Teresa had regained her vision, she had realized Oyatsu had been moving towards Heero and Virgil's location, and she had quickly rushed over to where she had seen the capsule fall. Much to her luck, she had found it relatively fast.

After she had done this, she had quickly moved over to Nina while Oyatsu was focused on Devin's group, and then Vernon and Jason. Nina had told Teresa that she had found out another strong fighter was close by, and it had turned out #18 was that person, so both had met with the Cyborg in North Canton, a ways north of the airport, and they had made a plan. Although Teresa had not told Nina at the time she had learned how to make a realistic-looking energy duplicate. It was also because the Teresa who met Nina and #18 was an energy duplicate that the real Teresa had not been so aware of #18 coming to help. She had been close by though when Oyatsu had battered her clone to death, and quickly reappeared to try to free Nina of the containment field provided by Oyatsu's Pulse gun.

She in truth had not expected to survive Oyatsu's wrath because of what she had witnessed happen to her energy clone, but Dan had been able to halt the shapeshifter long enough to allow #18 the time to save everyone. Oyatsu's plan had failed solely on the fact that he had not anticipated the other Cyborg to be anywhere nearby, or to suddenly attack him. Unfortunately, the shapeshifting cat had managed to elude them, thanks to some strange ability that prevented anyone from sensing his powerlevels in his natural form, and thanks to somehow being able to use the Kai Kai technique, a teleportation power much like the Shunken Idou, except there was no ki target required.

Teresa was worried because Oyatsu was still out there, and could be anywhere, posing as anyone, or anything. She had learned from Dan of some of the information he gained from Oyatsu while possessed. His shapeshifting powers made him a serious problem, since she had found out of the five different forms he took, a 17-year old boy, an elderly looking woman in her 60s, a Chihuahua, a buck, and then the cat form that appeared more to be his true form. Dan said that Oyatsu claimed to be a native to the Dragonball universe, a shapeshifter from the same school as the characters Puar and Oolong, except that his abilities had far surpassed their own. Another thing that made her scared of Oyatsu was the fact that he been the reason Dan had become a target of Al-queda, the horrible Islamic group of terrorists responsible for the attacks on the 11th, now called "9-11" for short. She was afraid the shapeshifter was still in cahoots with the terrorists, and that she would be a major target the next time either one attacked due to her interference in other plots.

She also feared for her family, and also for Dan's family. Her own family had already been used against her to force her to try to kill Dan at their high school. It was only because of Nina and Paula that she had both survived and also had been prevented from making a serious mistake. Paula had stopped her from using her tazer-like device to kill Dan, and Nina had killed the operative making sure she didn't back off. She also then remembered of Clint's role in saving them all. That experimental bomb, the one that had the power to hit anything in a 12-mile radius. He had risked everything to save his friends, and her, despite not seeing her back then as a 'friend', from that otherwise horrible weapon. She had to also thank Radditz, for finding out the location of her captive family and saving them from the last operative who had been holding the hostage.

As she thought to herself, she watched as Radditz had been showing Heero various pointers from the same sessions he normally gave her and Dan. She was amazed as he was picking up on the training relatively quick.

In fact, Heero had decided he wanted to ask Radditz, her and Dan a question. "Radditz, I like your training, but at the same time, I like training with Devin and his group. Do you think it'd be possible if we merged our groups?" Radditz scratched his chin for a moment.

The idea did appeal greatly to him, especially in the wake of Oyatsu's attempt to get rid of them, but he was worried about McDonalds due to the fact that he had picked McDonalds for his job due to the close proximity to the field he had been currently training at. On the other hand of course, he would have more people to train, and Devin would once again be one of them. Radditz had originally given Devin some similar training prior to the 11th, before he felt he had to train Teresa and Dan personally.

Maybe it was for the best their groups remeet. Of course, Radditz had his own comments to say. Although all of the present Misfits could sense ki well, Radditz had the easiest time sensing his brother's massive powerup. He knew Goku had not transformed, and he had a feeling the move he had used to defeat Nappa and later fight Vegeta, and then even Frieza over 20 years ago was the reason he had jumped so high in so little time.

"What did he call that... the Kaioken?" he spoke up, making Heero and Teresa look at him.

"Pardon me?" Teresa asked.

"The Kaioken. A special ability my brother Kakarott has. It makes a decent substitute for his Super Saiya-jin levels. It's a powerlevel multiplier, but it can put stress on the body, even risking muscle failure or death if overused. He learned how to go as high... as twenty times I think. Although he normally used ten, and only twenty at important moments." Radditz replied. Heero and Teresa were instantly interested in the idea.

"That sounds like something I'd want to use. I bet none of the others missed Goku's powerup either." Heero said, and then he sensed out, and he found Devin, Virgil, Dwayne, Dusty and Steve with Goku, Vegeta and Alex, "Speak of the devil, everyone from my training group minus Clint is over with Goku, along with Vegeta and Alex." he then felt Jason and Vernon approaching the area as well, "Make that Jason and Vernon too."

"Wait, where is Clint?" asked Teresa. "It feels like he's deep within Canton City... strange. His aura's right next to Paula's too. They must be both doing something, I guess they were exploring, because Clint's aura was moving all around the place." Radditz stated.

He then thought about Nina, and sensed out for her. He felt her energy signature north of Paula's, about the same distance she normally was away from Paula when both were idle at their houses. He assumed that meant Nina had returned home.

"I think Nina's back at our place. I should probably call her and Paula too and ask about whether they want to try to learn the Kaioken or not." then he realized, "Damn! I don't have Paula's phone number. I guess I'll have to ask her later."

He then realized, "Of course, we need to see if Dan wants to learn it too."

"Wants to learn what?" Dan had heard that last comment, but not the rest of the conversation, having been working on the gravity machine.

"Dan, I think my brother might be offering lessons for the Kaioken attack soon. We're probably gonna head over there to try and learn it soon. Do you want to come along?" Radditz asked.

"Sure, I'm having next to no more luck than earlier at the moment. I can't get this damn machine to go any higher than 1.3x gravity. I can barely even notice it even then." Dan replied. He then picked himself off the ground and walked out of the ship, recapsulizing it, and putting it in his pocket.

"By the way Dan, what would you think if we decided to merge our training group back with Devin's?" Radditz asked.

Dan remembered that he was originally with Dusty when he and Radditz were training prior to the 11th.

He realized he wanted to train with his old friend again, "I'd say, let's do it then!" Dan replied.

It was unanimous, they would meet Devin's group when they went to see Goku, and ask them about remerging their training programs. After a couple of more minutes of talk, the four of them picked up into the air and flew off in the direction of Goku, Vegeta and Alex's houses.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 12:21pm; Canton, Ohio)

As he turned west off Fulton Avenue on to Brown street, Clint walked at a leisurely pace towards the location of his original neighborhood by the path he remembered best. He had succeeded in sneaking away from Paula while she had fallen sleep. He had kept his powerlevel low enough not to make a big notice if he had to speed off suddenly. So far she had not followed behind him, and that was fine by him, this was his business, and only his. He ran in closer toward his neighborhood, and turned south when he had finally reached the turn at Gilmore Avenue. He turned and walked down the small alcove of houses. Noticing though that this neck of the woods had definitely had looked better in the past. A lot of the houses looked barely occupied, and some windows had boards over them. He knew a lot of his old neighbors had left in the past before they had, but he had not known so much about other occupants on the outskirts of his neighborhood.

He emerged from the alcove, and saw a southern view of his neighborhood. Perhaps it might have been the now darker clouds coming in from the southeast of him that had made it look that way, but for some reason, this view of his old neighborhood spooked him greatly. He walked in closer to a couple of houses on the northern edge of his neighborhood. Most of the ones he remembered still standing, but some looked like vandals had attacked them in the recent months. Boards were also covering various windows and doors. There was hardly a soul in sight, especially no one younger than him. When he had been very young, kids of all sorts had lived in the neighborhood along with him, but now a lot of what he saw almost made him think he was in a ghost town.

He had just hoped his own house was still relatively intact. He last recalled that no one had really been heard to move in. However he also realized something: his parents still owned a slight piece of property up here: a three-deck garage in which many of the things they couldn't really fit in the later two houses had been stored, including a half-broken down car, parts to two different waterbeds, and probably more things he could not place off the top of his head.

He decided he would delay looking at his own his directly for the moment, and continued down 5th street, looking over to see if any houses he remembered old friends of his living in were standing. As he expected, none of those said friends were around anymore, but a few of their houses, although in semi-shoddy condition remained. He walked back over to the intersection of Gilmore and 5th street, but when he turned to look back south, his eyes twitched, as he looked ahead. Paula had followed him afterall, but she had her back turned to him, looking southwards over his neighborhood as well.

He went to speak up, but she spoke first, "Is this where you lived before?"

"Yes it was. Why did you follow me?" he asked, trying not to get angry.

"I should've guessed you would head off without me when I got to sleep. Not that you couldn't do so, but is it that big of a deal if I'm here?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly think this place had aged gracefully, and it looks like I've been right so far." Clint replied, calming down a little.

Paula had sensed his lingering hostility, and turned around, "Don't be afraid of me being here. You said you didn't like to judge others when we were back on Shorb, right? Well I don't judge people easily either. Give me a chance dangit."

Clint was taken back at this. He realized that maybe we was being a bit too aversive around her. He figured he was just afraid she would do something when his guard was down.

"Are you really still unable to get over that? It's in the past Clint. I thought you were better than to dwell on that stuff." she replied, sensing his feelings, and disappointed.

Clint sighed, "Okay... fine... I guess I'm just so afraid you might kill me when I'm not looking."

"Why? Just because I made one mistake?" Paula asked, "The people back there were wrong. It happens. I'm sorry if the rift scared the crap out of all of us. They were making it sound like you would attack someone any second."

Clint realized he had been aversive for little reason, "You figured it was best to disable me before asking questions..."

"Yes. I'm sorry about all of that, alright? I might have mental powers, but I'm not perfect." Paula replied.

Clint sighed, maybe he owed her an apology, he figured it would help if he started by letting her follow him, "Alright... if you really want to know about my neighborhood, follow along with me. I guess it won't matter, but I can't say it will be a pretty trip. I don't have any idea just what will happen. We're only on the north edge of my neighborhood. My house is further ahead, and it's been 2 or 3 years since I've been in these woods."

Paula smiled, "Alright. Thank you." The two of them looked ahead, noticing the clouds were getting a bit darker.

"Why does it have to be getting dark already? Only makes this place look worse." Clint replied.

"There might be rain on the way." Paula replied. The two of them walked closer down the street, past a tiny field, and Clint looked on the left side of the street, looking at an older, grayish-blue house, looking to be three floors high. He looked up and down the front and left sides of the house, noticing some boards over a couple of the windows.

"Figures, some of the windows are broken." he said, making Paula look to him.

"You mean this is the place?" she asked him.

"Yeah, that's my house. Largest of the three places I lived in. The house you're in now is the middle-sized one. My current one is the smallest." Clint explained, and then looked to his right, noticing a small house was not too far away, a more recent looking house. Paula noticed this and read a notice on the side.

"Habitat for Humanity. Was this house here before you left?" she asked.

"Yeah, Habitat For Humanity had several houses being built in these parts, and around. Another older house laid here once, but it was torn down. I miss that place. The people who lived there were avid game players, also more mature than most people around their age. There were other houses along the west side of Gilmore too, but they were torn down long before I left." he then looked further head, noticing a two or three story green apartment was still standing, but now that where was a type of wired fencing around the area near it. Paula looked on in the other direction, and she noticed a small vacant lot, and a few more old and shoddy houses close by.

"Clint, was this place always like a ghost town?" she asked him. "No, definitely not. That's why it's depressing to look around. The neighborhood is nothing like it used to be." he then turned towards her direction, but when he caught site of a particular area, his eyes went wide in disbelief, and then narrowed to anger.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he growled in anger and quickly ran past Paula over onto the small field north of his house, and looking at a recently cleared area. Paula noticed he did not look happy, and was curious.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Where is it! Where's the garage!" he growled, almost ignoring her completely.

"What garage?" Paula asked. Clint looked back, a look of anger and depression in his eyes. His eyes expressed a look of defeat.

"I never told anyone why I left this place to move to the house at 11th street. I guess you're the first one. I didn't leave here because we wanted to. My parents fell into a financial slump for a while. Three months of mortgage bills piled up without being paid. We couldn't pay in time, so we had no choice but to find a new place. However my parents did still own a three-deck-garage that stood right in this spot in front of me. Even though we couldn't move all our stuff to 11th street, or even to Fohl later on due to the size restrictions of various places, we still had a place to put that extra stuff in case we ever needed it again." he then finished, almost looking slack. Paula could swear he looked like he would erupt.

"It's gone Paula. Someone... some bastard or bastard**s** destroyed or cleared it, without our knowledge. All our extra stuff is gone, likely stolen. My parents probably have no clue of this, and they're not going to be any too happy. We had a spare car, and parts composing of two waterbeds, along with other various merchandise in here, and it's all gone, ALL GONE!" he growled.

Paula sighed in anger, "That's terrible. You're sure your parents have no idea of this?"

"I'm sure if they knew about this, I'd have found out, and they might have found a new place to put the stuff, but there's nothing here anymore. I don't know when this happened, but I want to know why!" Clint growled.

"Aside from you, I haven't really seen anyone else around here. I don't know if anyone would know anything." Paula mentioned.

"Makes two of us. I didn't really see anyone here either. Most of the houses seem to be abandoned, and boarded." Clint then thought of something, "I wonder how the rest of the outside of my house, and my yard looks."

Clint walked up the street nearby, Paula following behind. Clint found his old driveway, with no signs of any recent vehicles parked in front of it. However when he looked over to his right, he saw another sight that about made his jaw drop.

Paula had noticed this, "What?"

"I don't... I don't believe it! My garage... it's not the only place that's gone!" Clint was staring in disbelief at a cleared-looking area of land only a few feet north of him. It had looked like it had recently been cleared.

"What else got cleared this time?" Paula asked.

"There used to be a hilled area over here, with two medium-sized apartments laying on top of them. They were still here when we had left, and it looks like they've recently gotten cleared away. What the hell has happened to this place!" Clint growled in disbelief.

He then sighed, and calmed down, as Paula walked up to the fence near them, "You own pets?" she took a shot in the dark.

"Yeah, still do. Mostly it was always dogs. I'm surprised the gate is relatively undamaged. I can't say the same for my yard though. It looks as dead as a desert." Clint replied. The leaves had began to fall from the approaching Autumn, and they had made the scene even more depressing. Clint walked over to the gate near the driveway and began to open it.

Paula looked over with concern, "Should you even be doing that?"

"I don't think anyone will give a damn right now. We both have yet to see anyone around here. Besides, it's not like I can actually go INSIDE my house. That's where the problems would start." Clint replied, "Besides, it was MY yard to start with."

Paula shrugged as she cautiously followed him into his old yard. As they turned the corner, the back porch of his old house was on their right. It was a concrete structure, with a patched wall beneath it, each hole filled with bricks. The porch mostly looked abandoned, but one object remained, as they looked on the right side of the porch, a strange barrel that looked like it would store trash. Clint walked onto the porch and looked around, noticing his doors were still there, locked in time.

He sighed to himself, "Maybe it was a big mistake for me to be so curious." he said to himself.

Paula wanted to find a way to make him think otherwise, but she couldn't find the words to say. She walked up onto the porch and examined it, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I guess I've done what I had to." Clint said, as he noticed the potential storm clouds starting to come in close. He heard a boom in the distance, the sound of thunder.

"Paula, I think we better go, before we're caught out in the open in this storm. Strong or not, I don't want to take the risk of being fried to death by lightning." he said.

Paula didn't answer him immediately, and when he turned around to call to her again, he saw Paula was looking at the door on the left end of the porch, and she had been examining it.

"What're you doing? We gotta go!" Clint called.

"This door doesn't look like it's been idle for long. Neither does the other door." Paula replied.

"What do you mean?" Clint asked her in confusion.

"You said it's been 3 or 4 years since you were ever in this house, right?" she asked back.

"Yeah, why?" Clint replied back. Paula grabbed the handle of the door in front of her, and began to turn it. To Clint's surprise, she suddenly pushed it OPEN.

"I knew it!" Paula exclaimed, "These doors have been recently used."

Clint gaped on in astonishment, "How... how could you tell! And why is one of my doors unlocked!"

"I don't know why it's unlocked, but we should probably lock it." she replied.

But Clint pushed past her, "Wait. This might be the only chance to see what's happened inside for the rest of the time I'm alive!"

"Are you sure? I thought you said the problems were with going inside?" Paula asked.

"Yeah, but this place hasn't been touched, supposedly... in four years, not to mention I hadn't been expecting to actually be able to go in at the time." Clint replied.

Paula smirked, "Fine... fine I won't argue with you, but I don't want you blaming it on me if we get questioned by the police."

"Fine, I won't, okay?" he replied with a raspberry, as the two entered into the abandoned house, not knowing what to expect...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 12:46pm; Canton, Ohio)

As they walked into Clint's abandoned first house, they immediately noticed another door right in front of them.

Clint looked at it, "That door leads to the basement, not sure if you'd really want to go down there yet. Same with me, the power probably doesn't work anymore, so we couldn't see down there very well."

Paula nodded, and they turned right, entering a large foyer. At one end of the room there were windows that were boarded up. Clint remembered the windows would look over at the now missing garage across the street. He turned right, looking at a small folding door in the middle of the right side of the room. He walked up and opened the door. When he looked inside, he noticed the room was empty. As it was expected.

"This... used to be a small closet. Nothing really to see." he said when he saw Paula looking over.

Paula shrugged, looking around left and right with curiosity. Clint decided he would go right first. Walking past a small opening, they entered a second foyer, with a heater vent next to another vacant doorway. Another opening lead into a larger room nearby. Clint walked into the smaller of the two connecting rooms first.

"This was one of my rooms. I had two of them here." he explained, "This was my playroom, where I had toys and my games at." Clint replied.

"Where's your bedroom anyways?" Paula asked.

"Upstairs. I'll show you when we get there." Clint replied, as he left the room to let Paula have a look inside. It was small and was mostly vacant. Clint walked into the larger of the two connecting rooms.

Paula looked ahead of him, "The kitchen I assume."

"Yeah, basically." Clint replied. He then noticed a tiny room on the left kitchen wall, "And that... I forget exactly the main purpose of that room. It was a small storage place at one time, then it was a insulated computer room nearing the end of our stay here."

"Clint, did you guys leave a table here?" Paula asked, Clint then noticed what she was talking about. A small table looked to be in the corner near the refrigerator.

"Strange... I don't remember owning a table like that." he commented, "Maybe I'm forgetting more than I want to admit."

The two left the old kitchen and walked back near the entrance, and they had started to hear rain falling outside, and rumbles of thunder. Realizing they were stuck there for the moment, they decided to just continue on and walked into the large room near the first foyer.

"The front room." he sighed, remembering many minor memories of his past in this place. The room was mainly vacant, although a fireplace was on the right side of the room, although it looked like it had not actually been used in many years. That was true, as they never really used the fireplace while they had been there. It was just here for decoration as far as he had been concerned. The only other object of interest aside from a window or two was a wooden door that looked more recent than the other doors seen so far in the house.

"Where's this door go?" Paula asked.

"Upstairs." Clint replied, opening the door nonchalantly.

As they entered the stair-room, there was a small opening to the side that lead to a now-blocked off entrance to somewhere. Clint didn't apparently really care to explain it. The two walked upstairs, and around a corner, until they were in a narrow hallway, with three doors near them, and two open rooms down the hall. One of them had an old toilet and a bathtub, which Paula correctly assumed had been their bathroom, but she couldn't see into the other room from her vantage point. Clint opened the first of the nearby doors, entering a room beyond that was about the size of the front room downstairs, and apparently right above it as well. Paula followed him in, although the two could not see too well due to the pulled down drapes in the room. "This was my parents' bedroom. Much bigger than the one they have now, and the one you're now using." he commented.

"Which one is your room?" Paula asked.

Clint sighed, "The third door." They walked out and to that door, wooden door which looked to have some chipped paint on it. Clint opened the door, leading into a room roughly the size of the foyer in the middle of the house. The room was mostly vacant, but the window on the end of the room was partially boarded, the glass behind it broken in places. Clint grumbled, also noticing some stray stones laying on the ground, probably what had broken the glass before. One the back left wall, another door was open, leading into a narrow room with an angled ceiling. Paula looked on in a neutral expression.

Wordlessly, they left Clint's old bedroom, and walked down the hallway, allowing them to see the one room Paula couldn't see into earlier. It looked like another kitchen, except not as large, but the stove in one corner and the small cupboard gave some hints to its' original purpose. The windows were also mostly boarded up, but it had been done almost like it had left a small section one could peek through to look outside. This had made them both wonder a second, then they decided to not dwell on it any further.

Clint spoke up, "One more real place, the attic. It's behind the second door up here." he spoke.

The two of them walked over to the door, right in front of the end of the stairwell, and opened it. Behind it was another stairwell leading up to the attic itself. Both Misfits walked up the stairs and to the top. As they began to reach to top, they felt a serious draft blow past them. Turning left and in the direction of the draft, Clint grumbled at the sight. Apparently one of the windows that had been in his attic was completely missing, letting a draft of air in through it. The missing window was on the front side of the house, but Clint admitted it gave him a good overview of the neighborhood outside. The rain was also beginning to let up, but some thunder and wind was still blowing through. Paula meanwhile looked on the other side of the attic, and saw a perfectly intact window on the other side, this one was apparently positioned over both kitchens, and looked over into the vacant driveway. The two looked around the attic with their eyes, spotting mostly nothing, except pipes and a few pieces of old equipment that belonged to the house.

"Well, that's basically the whole freakin' tour." Clint said to Paula, "Except the basement, but we don't have any flashlights."

"Wait. I think I got a way we can see down there." Paula had suggested.

Clint looked curious, "Even so, I'm sure the basement is webbed to the ends of the earth, and there might be a good deal of spiders and other stuff down there."

Paula sighed, not wanting to hear that, but she still continued, and ignited a burst of her PK Fire around a hand, and using it as a torch.

Clint had realized her intention, and sighed, "I guess that could work, but I think there are heating tanks down there, so we need to be careful where we walk. Maybe we should wait a few more minutes until it gets lighter. There is a window along the stairs down into the basement which might give us some extra light."

The two had agreed to wait up in the attic, sitting on the floor on separate ends of the room. About 10 or 15 more minutes passed before the rain had fully cleared up, and then the clouds began to lift, revealing some sun, and in Clint's opinion, making the neighborhood look slightly less deserted and depressing. Paula on the other hand had still be dwelling on the strange conditions in Clint's neighborhood. She had never remembered any place she had ever gone looking so desolate and ghost-like. The entire neighborhood seemed like it was left to rot. She had flown over the area once before, but she could not really tell anything was really wrong from a fly-over, and she never gave it notice then. She continued to think on things, until she suddenly appeared to blank out for a couple of seconds. She wordlessly sat up and walked over to the intact window and looked out. She had again noticed the backdrop of the neighborhood, and nothing looked really too different.

She was about to pull away from the window, when she suddenly saw something moving on the alleyway up the road from the driveway. She looked on in curiosity as she saw two figures walking down towards the remote area. She could not immediately identify them by features, but they both appeared to be male. As they came closer, she noticed one was tall and slightly muscular, with a crew cut. Another had hair about shoulder length, and was shorter than his collogue by several inches. He appeared to have a stance of confidence in his stride. Paula noticed the two men suddenly turn a slight angle, now walking right onto the driveway.

She looked over to Clint, "Clint, we might have some company! Two men just walked over into your old driveway!" she called in a mild shout, making sure not to alert the two strange men outside that they were up there.

Clint looked back, "You too? I saw a group of three walking from the direction of West Tusc. They look to be coming in close from the front."

The two Misfits walked by each other to identify the people the other had seen. As Clint surveyed the two men that came from the east side, Paula saw the three others Clint was talking about. One was about the average size of 6 feet, slightly built, but mostly looking to wear a red overcoat and bladed sunglasses. The second was about the same height, but his hair was dyed a strange purple, and looked to be in a split mohawk of sorts. Another boy was about Clint's height, with dyed green hair and a normal build. Paula noticed an odd feature on his shoulder though: a tattoo that looked like the icon representing a hurricane, with a dollar sign etched through it.

"Dammit! There's more coming behind the two you spotted!" Clint called back, "Three or four of them I think, but it looks like they're walking into Bill's old yard." Clint asked.

"Bill?" Paula asked.

"Old neighbor. Moved out long back. His house was used by a couple other neighbors, but it too was eventually abandoned before we left."

Paula grumbled to herself, as she saw 3 more figures approaching from the west of the house, the way she and Clint had come there from. Paula scrutinized all three of them. More or less, all three were male, averaging around 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 3 inches. One was really lanky and reminded her of a stick ready to blow over in the wind, and another was slightly pudgy in the same manner as Devin was, but he looked nothing like Devin at all. However as she went to look at the third one, she spotted three more males walking from the road directly south of the house.

When she focused her eyes on them, she gasped in a horrified shock, "No... no way!"

"What! What's wrong!" Clint asked.

Paula gaped on down at the last three men approaching the house on her side. One of them had a strange red-orange hair that was about shoulder length, and was about 5 feet 7 inches, with a black overcoat, strikingly similar to Oyatsu's, but without the bulkiness. The second had normal brown hair, and was the most normal looking of the bunch, but his expression was already embedded into her memory, having seen it before. The third was probably the shortest of the entire group that had been approaching the area, at around 5 feet 4 inches, making him almost Vegeta's height. His hair was slicked back, and his outfit had a fraternity symbol of Alpha on the back, but the Alpha symbol appeared intermelded with another symbol, one she could not recognize. However their images had already been burned into Paula's head, from an earlier incident.

"I... I know three of these guys. Well, I don't know them, but I've seen them before! Nina, #18 and I encountered them earlier at Canton Centre Mall. They were hanging around the water fountains close to the food court, and they were harassing anyone who would walk past. They even made cat-calls at Nina and I, and made a comment about Nina's wings making a good hunting trophy." Paula explained.

"Which three?" Clint asked, now feeling anger bubbling to the surface. Paula pointed out the three culprits, but they both realized most of these people were heading right to the house.

"Why are they here of all places?" asked Clint. The two hurried down the attic stairs, heading to a couple of intact windows in the second floor hallway. Looking through them, there were 6 people in his yard, and apparently another 5 people were in the neighboring yard.

"What the hell are they doing here!" Clint growled.

"It looks like they're meeting here for something." Paula assumed. Unfortunately, the two could not actually hear the people talking. Somehow, they had the feeling it wasn't good. Suddenly, Clint noticed the 6 people in his yard walking over to the porch where he and Paula had entered the house from.

"OH SHIT! I think they're coming inside!" Clint cried.

Paula then suddenly realized, "These people... they must be using this house for some reason."

Clint growled, not bothering to vocally reply, but realizing she was probably right. These people, whoever they were, were violating his old property, and they were probably serious trouble. He then heard sounds below them, some of them sounding vaguely like laughter and chatter. He couldn't make out the exact words, but it didn't sound good. He then realized he had messed up big time.

"Dammit. We gotta get back up to the attic now. I left the door to the stairs open. They might find out someone's been here. Let's get out of here." he said to Paula.

She nodded, agreeing with his logic, as they quietly opened the attic door up and snuck back up into the attic. They had done it just in time. Clint soon started hearing voices yelling at each other. Apparently they had been arguing about the door, and they believed one of them had forgotten to close it earlier. The two of them listened from the top of the attic stairs as they heard the voices continue to chatter among themselves. Although what they heard wasn't too helping to identifying the strange people.

This had continued on for nearly 20 minutes, until a couple of voices started to be heard more clear, sounding to be walking up the steps. Clint and Paula ducked away from the stairwell. Clint knew the attic door had a peep hole in it, that might be used by one of the people to see up the stairs.

He heard one voice chatter, "So Morgan, how was mall duty today?" Paula listened in closely as the next voice spoke back.

"Nuttin' too eventful, Jose." 'Morgan' responded with a slight accent, "Harry, Rowan and I did sees' these cute dames' earlier this mornin'. Fine lookin bitches they was."

"Really?" 'Jose' responded.

"Yeah. I think theys' were going to a costume party though. One girl was on stilts I think, and had these huge fuckin' wing props. She'as definitely an odd one. Saw a third lady, she looked like somethin' out of one of those stupid cartoons my nephew watches." 'Morgan' replied.

'Jose' laughed, "Women. Ya can't live with or without em' can ya?"

"Hear hear." 'Morgan' replied.

As Clint and Paula listened, he saw Paula bubbling with anger. No doubt it was probably towards 'Morgan' or whoever the hell he was. After a couple more minutes of useless chatter from the two jerks downstairs they soon departed from the upstairs, and had apparently closed the door to the stairway shut, as Clint and Paula no longer could really hear any voices too well.

"What a jerk, he's the one who commented on Nina's wings." Paula growled after she was sure no one would hear them, "If only Nina were here to listen to all of this."

Clint looked out of the missing window with a look of despair, "They're gang members."

"What?" Paula asked in sudden surprise.

"I had to be sure before I said something I might have been wrong about, but I saw the small one's jacket. That fraternity jacket. It had an Alpha symbol crossed over with another symbol. I know what that other symbol is. They're members of the Crips."

"How would you know?" Paula asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"A friend of mine I knew before I left here used to be a member of the Crips and disbanded from them before we met. We were great friends, and there was one day we saw a lone Crip while we were walking over to the 11th street house. I didn't know it at the time, but my friend knew it, and he warned me to keep from saying anything major to him. Later when we were clear of the guy, my friend explained to me he used to be a Crip. Over the weeks since, we talked about it at times, and he would tell me bits of info of what to look out for, including their symbol, and of any allies or enemies they might have." Clint explained.

Paula sighed as she looked at him, "So how bad are these guys?"

"A serious enough problem for anyone to arouse their anger, at least if you're normal strength anyways. I'm sure we would be in no direct danger if we spurned their anger at us, but there's many of them, and they span more than just through Canton. They as well as their arch-rivals the Bloods are all over Ohio in general. Now I understand why this place is so desolate. I should've seen it coming since the start. If I had known before I had left this place for 11th street, I would've realized sooner that the Crips were responsible for the decline of this place. They're probably the bastards who stole our extra property. They might have also torn the garage down too. I can't be too sure. I'm pretty sure we couldn't beat anything out of them. Most true Crips are lethally loyal to each other, and would never betray each other, even for their lives."

Paula sighed at him, "I understand what you mean. My home country is not without gangs of its' own."

"Oh please, I don't think they could be anything as bad as this. If you're talking about what I think you are." Clint said.

Paula looked confused, "Come on, do you honestly think this country is the only place this crap happens!" Paula growled back.

"No I don't, but I don't think the Sharks were THIS widespread, or nearly as bloodthristy."

Paula looked at him with an expression of total surprise, as if he had hit some kind of nerve, "How... how can you know about the Sharks!"

Clint then realized what he had said, _Oh shit! Now she knows I've figured out about her past_

"WHAT? What do you mean you figured out my past!" Paula growled, and Clint realized she looked like she was going to explode at him.

"Calm down... I'm sorry I didn't mention it before, but I know more about you than I let on. I didn't know if I was totally correct or not at the time." he said in defense.

"What are you... talking about! Tell me!" she replied.

However before Clint could reply, they heard a sound below them. It was the door at the bottom of the 1st floor opening, and other sounds, somewhat frantic sounding where coming from the stairs. They heard feet walking up the steps to the second floor, and panicked voices.

"Oh shit. Thanks a lot. Now I think they heard us." Clint growled at Paula.

He heard a voice call, "One of you idiots better not be messing around up there!"

"Dammit. We gotta get out of here." Clint whispered to Paula, looking for a quick way out.

Paula had suddenly been struck by an idea. "Clint, grab one of my hands, and lift up into the air."

"What?" Clint asked her in confusion.

"Just do it. NOW. Keep floating as if you're keeping above something like a fire pit. You might be in for a doozy of a ride." Paula commanded sternly. Clint sighed and grabbed her outstretched hand.

She looked over to the missing window, and said "You might want to close your eyes, lest you might end up giving up what you ate this morning."

Clint cringed and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt a massive gust of air fly past him, and he rose up into the air. However within less than a second, it stopped. Clint opened his eyes, and found he was no longer in his attic. He and Paula were now hovering somewhere above what Clint soon found out to be around McKinley High School right around where the final battle with Oyatsu had occurred only hours ago.

"What... what happened!" he asked.

"I took us away from your neighborhood, if you couldn't tell. They didn't see us, so don't worry." Paula replied.

"Wait! Did you just teleport us?" Clint asked.

"No, I flew us out of here. I can't teleport in any way, but you should know that." she then looked at him with that stern expression.

Clint sighed, "So... it's true... I didn't think you were THIS good at speed."

"What?" Paula was again surprised.

"It was said you are one of the fastest people in the world, but I couldn't be sure if I should take it at face value or not." Clint replied.

Paula sighed, "Look, we're going back to my place, and you are going to explain EVERYTHING to me. How you 'know of my past', and all of this other stuff."

Clint sighed, "I guess I owe you, you did get us out of their without being seen."

Paula turned in the direction of her house and she flew towards it, looking back to make sure Clint was following. She was not in the mood for him to play games, not anymore. Something was wrong here, and she was going to find out what.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:36pm; Canton, Ohio)

Goku sighed to himself. He was swamped at the current moment in time. In addition to Alex wanting him to teach the Kaioken, Devin, Dusty, Dwayne, Steve, and Virgil had later arrived. Then Jason and Vernon had come, followed by Piccolo and #17 out of curiosity. #18 soon had also followed after her brother in curiosity as well. Then Heero, Dan, Teresa and Radditz had shown up behind them. Vegeta had ducked back into the house to get the other scouters up and running with their transmitters. He had been aware of the large group outside as well, and had asked Goku to hold them there for a while, by whatever means he could, but not to mention his surprise yet.

When Goku had asked why Devin's group had arrived, they had all stated they had wanted to learn Kaioken, especially Devin, who had state he had felt Goku's powerlevel skyrocket. Alex was a little annoyed at this declaration, but he realized there was no way anyone who COULD sense ki would've really missed that powerup, and he knew Devin was aware of the Kaioken. He figured since he still had his transformation, there was little harm in Devin learning the Kaioken. He did laugh at Virgil a little when the fatter Misfit had declared of the same reason to come along. Virgil had barely started training. Alex didn't think Goku would be able to teach Virgil at that point in time. He begrudgingly admitted the rest of the others, even Teresa had potential to learn Kaioken, but not Virgil. Jason and Vernon were there to learn Kaioken too.

With at least 5 hours left before anyone among them would be able to utilize Super Saiya-jin in any form again, they had time to kill. Alex had called the two of them over, although he did not really want to, it was more of Goku wanting to provide equal opportunity to anyone willing, and Goku knew that if he only taught Alex, the others would think he was playing favorites. He then learned Radditz, Heero, Dan and Teresa had wanted to learn the same. He took the time to offer Piccolo, #17 and #18 the chance to learn, but all three had declined. Piccolo felt similar about the Kaioken to how Vegeta had, that it was too risky of a maneuver. The two cyborg twins didn't think there would be anyway they could really learn it due to not being fully biological.

After some initial chatter, Radditz had popped Devin the question of remerging their training programs. After a small amount of consideration, he agreed, and asked Dwayne and Steve, then Dusty and Virgil. None of them had really argued, and Dusty was glad Dan would be rejoining them.

Goku then realized something else, _Now that most of them are gathered here, I could finish what I started on the 3rd!_

"Alright guys, before we do anything related to the Kaioken, Vernon, Jason, Dusty, Dwayne, Steve and Virgil have catch-up to do first." he said.

"What're you talking about Goku?" asked Jason.

"I can't believe you haven't thought much on the fact you can't sense or hide your energy." Goku grumbled at him, making all of the above grumble in disbelief.

"Aw shit! I forgot about all of that!" Vernon replied.

Vernon, Jason, Dusty, Dwayne, Steve and Virgil all gathered over near Goku. In about 20 minutes, both had figured out finally how to sense out ki, and were now beginning to understand how to push it down in order to hide it. The seven of them were feeling really embarrassed their other friends had this advantage in the past, and were rather annoyed when Alex or Devin would chuckle at them at their expense.

Devin sighed to himself, _Well, no more being one of the only people who can sense ki. Wait a second! I just realized, where's Clint? I know he went off looking around Canton, but he should've been at least left curious to us all being in one place by now!_

Devin sensed off and found Clint's ki, and it was right next to Paula's, and neither were moving. He then as an afterthought sensed Nina north of them, but she wasn't moving either at the moment.

_I guess they might miss out on this. Their loss, I guess. Although they could ask Goku at a later time too, so I don't know for sure._

He also noticed Buu was over west, almost appearing to be oblivious to the fact all his friends were mostly gathered up in one place.

Goku had also noticed the lack of Buu, Clint, Paula or Nina, but at the moment, he didn't really know if he should bother them. He could easily use his Shunken Idou to take them over here, but the reason he never used it to this point since joining his new friends was that many of them appreciated the privacy of their homes, and Goku teleporting in at any random time could scare the shit out of one of them, or get him yelled at horribly**5**. Goku was not able to just tell the right times he could teleport on a leisurely basis, so he told himself he would only use the teleport in emergencies, and this wasn't really an emergency. He had not initially regarded Oyatsu as a serious emergency either, otherwise, he might have used it to take him and Vegeta to the shapeshifter instantly, possibly shattering his chance at a plan.

Goku sighed to himself, he was not used to underestimating his enemies so easily, but only one other time he had ever encountered anything like Oyatsu was when he faced Ginyu on Namek, and that was still a different case. Ginyu and Oyatsu were similar in evil, but not stratagems, and Oyatsu could not switch bodies with others like the former could. He would probably call those four later or try to teleport to one of them if he sensed them move around too much. However he suddenly felt Buu approaching fast, almost so fast he had not initially noticed. Buu must've been meditating up to now, since once he had started moving, he did not waste time. Buu was soon seen as he flew over the neighborhood and landed nearby.

He looked over to Goku, "What you doing Goku? Something bad happen?"

"Not exactly Buu. Most of the others got the idea to try to learn the Kaioken from me, so that's why most of us are here." Goku explained.

It was then he suddenly realized a potentially fatal flaw in his plan: it had been so long since he had been taught how to use the Kaioken that he wasn't sure if he could actually explain to the others of a guide on how to use it. The Kaioken did come semi-naturally to him, even after around 20 years of inoperability, but it had been so long since North Kaio had explained the direct principals of it. It didn't help matters since Goku remembered his trainer had never really been able to master his own trademark ability, and Goku had.

"Oh boy... this might be tougher than I thought. I gotta really think on how to explain this to them."

He began to think deeply into his memories, of how he knew the Kaioken in way traded off the user's lifeforce in small increments to allow the multiplication of powerlevel. The higher the multiplier, the more of a constant trade would be made. This was one reason Goku could barely use times four when he fought Vegeta, and then later mastered up to ten when he reached Namek, and only used twenty in short bursts against Frieza later on. However even with that knowledge, it still wasn't helping him in how to explain trying to use the ability for the first time. It was then he decided maybe him being the one to explain it was the wrong way of going at it. He began to focus his own mental abilities within his mind.

_/North Kaio! Kaio can you hear me/_ Goku called out.

He listened for about 4 seconds. After no answer, he called out again, _/North Kaio, can you hear me/_

Two seconds later, _/Wha... what... oh... Goku is that you/_ a new voice called in his head.

_/Heya North Kaio! You got a few minutes/_ Goku asked.

_/Sure, what can I do for you Goku?_ North Kaio's voice echoed.

_/I know you're going to be curious, but I need refreshed on how exactly you explained how one first learns the Kaioken technique._/ Goku asked.

_/Why would you want to know that, isn't the Kaioken outdated for you/_ North Kaio echoed back.

_/It's not for me. I'm gonna try to teach a few new students and other friends of mine how to use it, but I can't figure out for the life of me a good way to give them a guide. It was so long since you taught me I forgot how you explained it./_ Goku replied.

He could hear North Kaio chuckling, _/So how are your little 'Misfits' doing anyways? I haven't been able to keep much track of you guys lately, but Dai Kaio told me that you guys had found some new recruits./_

Goku thought to himself then responded, _/Not too bad, but we just barely escaped a situation by the skin of our teeth earlier./_ it was then he realized he needed to find something else out, _/Kaio, I also need to ask you an important question. Do you know of anyone by the name of Oyatsu/_

_/Oyatsu? Odd name, but I don't know of anyone by that name recently. Why/_ North Kaio asked, his voice sounding slightly concerned.

_/Well, you remember how I went to Namek by spaceship to help some of the others and met up with Frieza, and how our fight lead to Namek's destruction and all, but as far as I could recall, my spaceship was supposedly destroyed when the planet exploded. However, recently we found out this Oyatsu had somehow gotten his hands on a capsule which when we uncompressed it, revealed my old spaceship, frame still intact, though mangled somewhat./_ Goku explained.

_/You want me to see if I can find out how it got off of Namek/_ Kaio asked him.

_/If you could somehow find out, I'd appreciate it./_ Goku replied.

_/I'll look into the matter when I have time. However with the odd merging of all these universes, we've had a lot of work covering and watching the different quadrants. Kaiobito is having his own troubles with the new developments. He's been rambling on once in a while about that a dark force is beginning to become present in the universe, something that seems to be extremely ancient./_

Goku gasped mentally, _/Really? As I said, we were attacked earlier by this Oyatsu. He took over the consciousness of one of our friends for a while, but he claimed he was doing this for a 'master' of his. I also learned apparently he attended the same shapeshifting academy as my friends Puar and Oolong on Earth/_

North Kaio cut in, _/Wait, this guy's a possessor AND a shapeshifter/_

_/Yeah. Do you know him now, or just concern/_ Goku asked.

_/Concern mainly. I'm sorry Goku, I don't know anyone by that name. The closest person I know sounds similar to that, but her name's Agari, not Oyatsu./_

North Kaio asked. _/I see. Thank you. Anyways, back to what my original topic of the day was. Do you think you might be able to take a little time to help give my friends and I a recap of how to start using the Kaioken/_

North Kaio spoke in, _/I just asked Dai Kaio, and he said that your situation raises cause for concern, so he's given me the green light, so to speak./_

_/Thanks much my old friend/_ Goku replied.

He then looked over to his friends. Although his mental conversation had only taken him physically about one minute, he knew Devin, Alex, Jason, Vernon and many of the others would want to start their lessons soon. "Guys, I got a confession to make." he said, as they looked over to them, "Although I can use the Kaioken, I realized just recently I forgot exactly how North Kaio had explained to me how to bring it about. Because of this, I myself cannot really guide you at first."

"Wait a minute, if you can't explain, then I guess we should go until you do remember." Devin replied, a bit disappointed.

"Wait a second." Goku replied, "I didn't say that **North Kaio** himself couldn't help us out."

"What!" Piccolo called out in disbelief, "Did you contact him?"

_ **/Yes Piccolo, Goku contacted me a moment ago./**_ Alex, Devin, Jason, Vernon, Steve, Dwayne, Virgil, Radditz, Teresa, Dusty, Dan and Heero looked up in disbelief.

"Is that really King Kai?" asked Vernon.

_ **/"King Kai"? My name is North Kaio, although I am flattered by that name nonetheless./**_ North Kaio replied, with a few chuckles following it, _ **/Either way, it has come to my attention that Goku wishes to teach you all how to use the Kaioken. I am proud that he has finally decided to pass down the mantle of a move I myself had not mastered at that point in time./**_

"Wait a minute, 'at that point in time'? You mean you actually mastered it!" Goku asked, not knowing of this.

_ **/Yes Goku. I was quite embarrassed that I could create such a cool technique and yet not be able to really use it myself. I kicked myself mentally over it for many years, pushing myself. Due to my... ahem, not so alive status anymore, I finally understood just why I never mastered the Kaioken myself while Goku did./**_

"Wait, are you saying we have to be DEAD to actually unlock the ability to use it!" Alex asked, not believing his ears.

**_ /No no no... it's not quite that drastic. It's just being alive was clouding my understanding of it. Anyone, alive OR dead can learn the Kaioken, provided the have the exact right understanding of it, and that they can surpass a base powerlevel of something around 5,000 or more. I learned in the grand scheme of things I was a little too weak to really bring the actual power of Kaioken to the surface when alive. I'm actually a lot more powerful than I was 20 years ago Goku. Not anywhere near your strength, or even Piccolo's, but I'm stronger than Frieza was on Namek back then at least._6**

"If that's true, how did you finally do it?" asked Devin, extremely curious. He knew none of this had ever been truly elaborated on in the show itself, so this was something new and interesting to him.

_**/Let's just say that some of you might not yet have the necessary experience to learn Kaioken right this moment. Some of you, like Virgil have barely gotten mastery of standard ki senses and masking. Kaioken requires an extreme understanding of both of those abilities in addition to the powerlevel requirement. Although I can tell all of you present have met and surpassed the powerlevel requirement, the experience requirement is not so easy for me to distinguish by looking at you./**_

"Yeah yeah, so exactly what do we have to do, considering we do have the requirements all down?" Alex asked impatiently.

_ **/First off I need to explain the reasoning of why you need to be good at both sensing and masking ki in order to use the Kaioken. The Kaioken is a multiplier basically, so in a way, you're shoving your ki beyond your normal levels, basically multiplying it by whatever number you shout out. And yes, shouting out the intended multiplier is NECESSARY to using it properly, a basic "KAIOKEN" shout will simply be taken as a 1.5 times multiplier, not a double like saying "KAIOKEN TIMES TWO" would do. Anyways, back on topic, the only way one can really be good at shoving their ki upwards is by also being able to push it down, and concealing it. Basically it's that all actions have an opposite, but equal reaction./**_

"So basically you mean that the better we are at concealing our energy, the greater number we could actually use for the multiplier." Devin concluded.

_**/Yes, that sounds about right. However, that doesn't mean you could use your highest multiplier and expect a 100 chance of surviving the initial upsurge of energy. You see, this brings me to why you have to be good as sensing ki. Some of you might not realize it, but you can also sense your own ki if you were bored enough to, to compare it to others around you. It's this part of the experience that is necessary to knowing if you're ready to use a certain level of the Kaioken without putting yourself in the afterlife. As Goku and I have discovered by using the Kaioken often in past times, there is an initial cost to your lifeforce when you call forth the upsurge of energy. However in addition, there is a lesser, but continuous further drain on your lifeforce afterwards while you hold onto the Kaioken's power. The longer you hold onto it, the more lifeforce is traded off to keep the powerup going. This is why the Kaioken is considered to be a risky power. And yes, I semi-agree with Vegeta and Piccolo when they say it can be too risky in serious battles, but there are times the Kaioken can surprise you with its' effectiveness. It's risk yes, but it can end up being a vital, life-saving gamble if done right. Back on topic though, the higher your multiplier, the higher both the initial cost to your lifeforce and the drain afterwards becomes. That's why Goku could only use twenty sparingly against Frieza. However, I have learned something important that should crack an important little myth about the Kaioken. It is impossible to kill yourself with the secondary drain to your lifeforce alone. It's the initial upsurge that has the serious risk of killing someone. The drain afterwards will drain the user until there isn't enough power left to drain it again. Then the Kaioken will just fizzle out, but more than likely the person will collapse and lose consciousness, but that alone cannot kill you, although it couldn't be said the same for the enemy you were fighting, who could easily eliminate you while you were unaware./**_ North Kaio explained more in detail.

Alex, Vernon, Jason, Devin, Steve, Dwayne, Virgil, Dusty, Dan, Teresa, Radditz, Heero and even Buu, Goku and Piccolo listened on in amazement. Even Goku had Piccolo had not been aware of that last fact about the secondary drain of a Kaioken. Goku had always thought it was literally possible to drain yourself completely to death even after the initial upsurge.

After a little more silence, North Kaio realized he had definitely had their attention and spoke up again, _ **/Alright boys, and girls... I believe it's time we see if you're all truly ready to learn such a magnificent power at last! Hehehe.../**_ he ended with a chuckle, as Goku prepared to physically demonstrate to them in North Kaio's steed...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:42pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at Paula's house, she and Clint had returned a few minutes ago. Although Paula was very curious about what Clint had said about knowing her past, she was nice enough to off him something to drink and eat. Clint was sitting back on the couch in the front room, finishing a sandwich he made and a can of soda. P

aula cleared her throat as she walked in and sat down at a chair on the other side of the room, "So, are you ready to explain what you meant?" she asked.

Clint looked over to her, "Alright, but promise you won't explode and try to kill me when I do."

Paula rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, I don't like to be violent, you should know that."

"Cut that out." Clint replied sternly, "I said I know SOME things about your past, but as I think of it, it was more of what happened during one major event in your life than your past in general."

Paula stilled looked interested, "Then by all means please explain."

Clint sighed, "What I'm about to tell you, some of it might have happened as I remembered it, someone of it might not have. One thing I definitely didn't know was you knew Goku. I can only wonder how that is possible."

"What do you mean?" Paula asked, as if that were common knowledge.

"I notice you don't seem to have anything like a TV around here, or a radio, or anything of the sort. A suggestion is to get one when you can. Trust me, it does us all well to know of the news, and secondly, you haven't really seen Dragonball on TV, so I guess you haven't really figured it out." Clint replied.

"Cut the crap and explain to me now." Paula replied.

"First off, there's a show on our television called Dragonball, and another called "Dragonball Z". Both are based off of a comic book in Japan by the name of the former. The series was written by a man named Akira Toriyama. Toriyama wrote a story which apparently involves Goku and Piccolo, as well as Buu, #17, #18, Vegeta, Radditz, and several other characters we have yet to meet. However what is off kilter to me when you and Goku tell me you knew each other when you were young is that the manga never made any note of your existence."

"That's crazy. You're saying this guy made a story semi-based off the stuff Goku and I really did, and then he alone did later?" Paula asked.

Clint chuckled in a way that made her spooked, "There are many forms of media in the world that apparently are not as make-believe as we had originally thought. Remember when we referred to the events of the rift as a "merger"? That's because it seems several forms of fiction have in fact become reality, and intermelded as one universe."

Paula looked on, "So what exactly does this have to do with you knowing something in my past. You said this manga made no mention of my existence."

"It didn't, but SOMETHING ELSE did. Now listen closely, for this is what you'll really want to hear: I'm guessing you were either 12, 13 or 14 years old when this happened, but apparently something evil was descending on your world, people and animals were increasingly becoming violent. In the chaos, you were apparently kidnapped by a cult of nutjobs who had an affinity for the color blue." Clint had noticed Paula had visibly began to go pale in shock as he mentioned this, but he continued, "On the subject, I already knew of the existence of PK, but I didn't know then it was different from Magic or Ki, but that's not really important. I also know you have the ability to call to people from long range with your mind."

"That's true..." Paula replied.

"Anyways, when you were kidnapped, I guess you were locked away somewhere, intended to be used either as a human sacrifice, or to be converted into their high priestess. The stories as I recall were conflicting. My guess was you were locked in a cabin near a source of running water, and from this place, you called out to a boy in his sleep, a boy you supposedly had a dream about days before the kidnapping. You asked him to come and help you, and within a matter of less than a day or so, he did in fact come to help you." Paula looked on at him in disbelief. So far everything Clint had said was in fact true.

"When you two had first met, he had no way of initially breaking you out. You offered him some kind of object, I believe you called it the Franklin Badge or something." Clint mentioned.

"Wait, you mean this?" Paula said, reaching into the shirt of her dress and apparently unclipping something. She then pulled out a circular blue badge with a ringed pattern, embedded with an icon of a lightning bolt.

"Yes! That's the badge, the Franklin Badge!" Clint replied.

"Yes... that.. that is the name." Paula replied, but then urged him to continue his story.

"You told the boy that the cult leader had the key to your cell, and that he could control lightning and the badge was necessary for the boy to stand a chance against him. He took the badge and left, and soon returned after confronting a former-friend, and then the cult leader himself. He returned with the key and freed you, and you offered to help him. Apparently he had began an adventure of his own on the night you had the dream about him. He was searching for 8 strange spots of mystical power, which were said to be linked to the earth itself. Many referred to them as "Your Sanctuaries", or some crap like that. Anyways, after you joined up with him, you got your first true feel of battle inside of a strange cave outside of the place you had been taken too. Inside and at the end of the cave, there was some kind of giant mole guarding the exit. The two of you fought a close battle with the creature, but after he fell, the second of the eight places was just beyond him. It was said when you felt the energy of this place, you had sealed your decision to journey with this boy." Clint continued, and waited for any questions Paula might ask him. When she had not asked any, he continued, "You two returned to your hometown, so your parents would know you were okay, and then you went with the boy. Your journeys would take you through a town infested by zombies, commanded by some kind of creature that was apparently made from puke. You two were captured for a short time, and you made contact with a second boy in a distant country, who actually came to your rescue and joined you afterwards. After you defeated the puke guy, you found the third spot and gained its' power, then you found a large city past a large desert."

"Wait, I want to be sure you're not just saying random references. What are the names of the two boys I was with to his point?" Paula asked.

Clint sighed, expecting this question to have popped up sooner. The first boy went by the name of Ness I believe, and the second boy, his name was Jeff. You would later meet with a third boy from an oriental country named Poo, if what I heard was right."

Paula looked at him sincerely, "Alright, I guess this really isn't some sick joke. So if you know of this, it must mean that you knew about HIM."

Clint was bit confused, but then he realized with a horrified expression of who she spoke of, "Oh my god. Only now I truly realize we could be in serious trouble again someday." Clint had said, "Yes... I know about Giygas. I know of how he became beyond evil, and how he destroyed his mind. I know that it had to be literally maddening for you four, but supposedly you yourself were responsible for destroying him."

"No, he's not dead. Giygas will never truly be dead, not as long as there is evil Clint." Paula replied.

Clint sighed grimly, "I was afraid you'd say that. Great... now I know that Giygas wasn't just a bunch of bullshit made up to scare people."

Paula was still curious, "So I assume you know about Pokey too?"

"Yes, that fat benedict bastard." Clint growled.

"So exactly how did you know of all of this anyways? No one else among you guys has even given any clue to me that they knew." Paula asked.

"They probably really don't. It's ironic, I guess not just anime was merged when the universes became one, so did video games." Clint replied.

"What the heck do you mean 'so did video games'?" Paula asked with a concerned look.

"The reason I know all of that stuff is because it was portrayed in a video game that exists in this world. It's not the most popular or mainstream game out there, but it does have a cult following."

"WHAT! How is that possible? How can someone just somehow know about all of this and portray it in a game?" Paula asked in a mix of anger and shock.

"Do you think I'd know anymore than you?" Clint responded neutrally, "Remember, I'm just as confused to how Toriyama somewhat accurately portrayed Dragonball despite not having you in it."

Paula sighed, "I wanna ask you another question, where could I find this game you speak of?"

"I have a copy of it, but I would have to dig all the necessary stuff out of my house. I haven't used a physical game console since I moved out of my first house, I used ROMs afterward because it was more convenient." Clint explained, and then realized Paula probably didn't know what a ROM was.

"Anyways, now that we kinda got that subject explained, I want to talk to you about back there at your place." Paula continued.

Clint shrugged, "So what exactly do you want to talk about?"

"Perhaps us getting rid of these gang people or something." Paula responded.

Clint sighed, "As I said, these gangs are country-wide. More than likely we couldn't put a total stop to all of them, short of blowing Earth up."

"I don't mean all over the world, but at least make this city of yours and the surrounding areas a better place!" Paula elaborated.

"That's a little more plausible, yes. But it would still be hard. There are so many gangs, big and small in this city. The Bloods and the Crips are the primary ones, but I'm sure there are secondary gangs as well." Clint replied.

"Still, wouldn't the whole of us as a group be able to easily put them down?" Paula asked.

"Well, if you're talking about fighting them, all of us are far stronger than a normal human, and barring any possibility any of these gang members have figured out they could unlock their ki, any of us, even Virgil, could easily kick the asses of a large group of any gangsters single-handedly. The problem is the reason the Bloods and the Crips are so dominant in the gang business is stratagems. They might like to fight, but for one example, they're probably smart enough not to send every single person in the entire gang to one large gang-fight. In case they lose, the remaining members can find more recruits to replace their fallen." Clint explained, "Even if we tried to take out every single member of either gang, there's a great chance we'll miss a few, and they'll regain their bearings while we're not expecting it."

"Well maybe if they know we're waiting to take them out over and over, we could scare them into giving up." Paula thought.

"Well, that depends. I don't know how these people would respond to people with powers like ours. Maybe they'll try to rise to the challenge and learn how to do the same. I'm not sure if the rest of Canton is ready for that possibility. If we attack them, we might provoke them into training themselves to the point they could hold a death grip on this city." Clint replied.

Paula sighed, "You know what's funny... Nina told me the same thing when we saw those three jerks at the mall. When they saw #18, one of them almost thought she really was who she was, until another one said she was probably just in a costume."

"Yeah, if those guys find out Goku and his gang are real, they'll know that it's possible they could train to do the things we can do, and that would give them too much power. The police would be unable to stop them. We would be the only ones who could put a stop to them if that happened. I don't want Canton to be put into such a state of fear and depravity. I know it might seem bad as it is now, but at least humanity on its' own can deal with problems like that as they are at the moment. I don't want to be responsible of causing them to lose their ability to defend themselves all the time." Clint responded.

"Maybe we should consult with Goku and the others and see what they all think on this." Paula had suggested.

"You really think we should?" Clint was not very sure it was a good idea.

Paula sat up and walked to the edge of the front room, "I'll be back in a bit. I'm gonna make a drink." Clint nodded, and curled up on the couch, closing his eyes to think for a few moments. Paula walked into the kitchen and began to pour a glass of her own soda into a cup. After she picked up the cup, she began to walk to the opening out of the kitchen, her expression went blank, and she had dropped the cup on the ground, spilling the soda on the ground...

**(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:34pm; Canton, Ohio)**

Paula was now seeing something very odd. She saw herself in Clint's old house again, inside of his upstairs bedroom. She was apparently watching from one corner of the room as she saw one of the gang members that had been there earlier walking into what Clint said had been his closet. It was the short man in the fraternity jacket with the Alpha/Crips symbol intermelded together. He was carrying an odd metal box and taking it into the closet. As he did, Paula's vision began to automatically follow the guy as he pulled the chain light on and lit up the odd closet.

She then looked inside and saw the man walk up to a decent sized hole that had been placed into the angled ceiling. She assumed this closest was just under the stairs leading to the attic. She watched curiously as the gang member stuffed the metal box into the hole, until it was out of normal site. Paula looked on in confusion as the member turned around, but he walked out of the room right through where she would've been standing had she been there physically.

As he walked away, she heard him say, "There we go, there's no way Jermaine and those Blood bastards will find it now. Even if they got in here, they would never think to look inside of such a place."

She then turned and automatically followed after him as he walked down the stairs to the first floor. She saw him gather with the other 5 members that she had seen come in with him earlier.

"Is the dirt secure boss?" one of them asked, the other of the three punks from the mall, but not the one named Morgan, as his voice was different was either of the other two.

"Yeah Harry, there's no way they'll find it. I think it's time we got outta this dump. We got things to attend to." the first man said, apparently the leader of the entire group.

"Wait, shouldn't we leav' a guard or sumthin'?" the one she had remembered to be named Morgan spoke up.

"No way, Morgan. If one of Jermaine's boys saw one of us here, they'd know for sure something was here." the leader spoke up.

With that, Paula watched with little control over her movements as she followed the group of gang members out through the door she and Clint had used earlier to go inside. She noticed they did not lock it though, for odd reasons. She followed close behind them until they reached the end of the yard at the front, then she merely watched as the members met up with the other five gang members she and Clint had seen in the neighboring yard, and she could swear as they were near the edge of her that she saw one or two other people join up with them, who she had assumed were other members of the gang checking out other abandoned houses. After she could not see them anymore, her vision went white...

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:43pm; Canton, Ohio)

_Ugh... what was that?_ Paula thought to herself.

"PAULA! Answer me! Can you hear me?" she then heard, identifying it as Clint's voice.

Her eyes suddenly regained vision, and Clint noticed her pupils weren't dilated anymore.

"Paula, you alright!" he asked.

"I think so. What happened? Did I blank out?" she asked.

"Yes. You nearly passed out in the kitchen. What happened?" Clint asked.

"We need to get back to your other house, NOW." Paula said, making Clint look at her with concern.

He then made a shot in the dark, "You had a vision didn't you? Like when Teresa almost killed Dan on the 11th."

"Yes, a big vision. Those gangsters are hiding something at your house from the Bloods. The place is probably unguarded. It was only 10 minutes ago from what I could tell, and I saw all eleven of the people we saw in the yards, and a few more leave the neighborhood. I also know which one is the leader of the group now. It's the small one in the jacket, the one with the gang's symbol on the back." Paula explained.

"Wait, if we're really gonna go back, shouldn't we wait a few more minutes just in case one of them forgot something and decides to go back?" Clint suggested.

"Well, I could just speed us both to your place. We'll have to stop to open the door, but they didn't lock it, so they must not be suspicious of us being there." Paula said.

"Strange. I know one of them called up at us." Clint said.

"Probably thought one of the other members was goofing off up there, not us." Paula explained.

"Wait, which way did you see them leave?" Clint asked.

"Towards that West Tuscarawas street you mentioned earlier." Paula replied.

"Good, we don't have to worry about bumping into them on the way over at least." Clint sighed.

"Why are you so concerned, you said we could beat them easily." Paula replied in a stern voice.

"Yes, but remember, I don't want to lead this to being much worse than it already is. Antagonizing them now isn't a good idea." Clint told her.

"Fine, we'll wait a couple more minutes, but get ready for a quick ride. I'm going to take us the way I got us out earlier." Paula warned him. Clint sighed, as he helped Paula clean up the spilled soda. After they finished that, the two of them walked out, and Paula grabbed Clint's arm and told him to get ready. Clint closed his eyes and sighed. As they began to move, anyone who had been watching would've sworn they instantly disappeared.

Merely a second or two later, Clint felt them stop, and he opened his eyes to be on the side porch of his house again. Paula had already opened the door on the side, the one she knew would be unlocked, "Quickly Clint!" she called as he regained his bearings and followed her inside. He closed the door behind them, just in case someone would come past, to make sure not to arouse suspicion.

Paula and Clint quickly walked to the upstairs stairwell, but Paula didn't get two steps up before Clint growled, "Those sons of bitches!" Paula turned around at that comment to see Clint eyeing the backside of the door with a hating glare.

"Clint, what're you doing! We need to get upstairs!" she called over.

"My dad built this very door with his bare hands, and they're defiling it! Look at these marks!" he growled at the door.

"What's the big deal about that door?" Paula asked him, slightly curious.

"This door is the only thing of ours we really left behind. In the last 2 years we lived here, the entrance to the basement had an additional opening that led to this stairway, which is now blocked. But it was so short we often hit our heads on it, so my dad came up with a solution and built this door for a quicker and less painful way to reach the stairs. But now that I see it, it's as if those bastards took an axe to this thing and used it for target practice." Clint explained.

Paula sighed, "Look, I'm sorry if I don't sound like I care so much, but I think this thing they've hidden is more important than the door!"

Clint realized she probably made sense, "Fine, let's go then. I wanna get out of here as soon as possible, and never come back."

The two of them walked up the stairs. So far, apparently Paula had been right, there had been no one left behind to watch the house, as they couldn't sense any real kis in the immediate area. The two quickly went into Clint's bedroom.

"So exactly where did you see this guy hide this thing?" he asked Paula.

"Inside your closet. Inside of some hole in the wall beneath the attic stairs." she replied. She saw Clint blink.

"I might know where you're talking about, there were a couple of holes in that little wall before." he said.

The two of them walked inside, and Clint turned on the light. Paula walked over to the hole she had seen the leader stuff the metal box into and bent down to put her hand inside. Clint watched her dig around inside for a couple of seconds.

She then looked up in surprise, "Wait, there's more than one here!"

"One what?" asked Clint.

"I saw the guy put a small metal box into the hole, but I can feel at least two... no three of them!" Paula responded, as she pulled one of the boxes out through the hole.

Clint took the box from her while she went to pull the next one out, and he opened it.

He sighed to himself as he looked inside, "Looks like a shitload of money, and something else with it. Some kind of pill bottle."

Paula pulled the second box out and passed it to Clint. Inside was more money, but no pill bottle. Paula then pulled out a third box, basically with more of the same inside. She then gasped in astonishment as she felt even more boxes inside the hole.

"Geez, how much do they have stored up in here!" she growled, as she pulled a fourth, and then a fifth metallic box out of the hole. She had decided to check the second hole above her to see if they were hiding anything else. To her surprise, she felt something else odd. She pulled out a strange ring, which looked to have a jaded-jewel embedded within it.

"What in the world is this thing?" she asked, showing it to Clint.

"No idea. Looks like some normal ring to me." he stated. Paula checked inside the hole again to make sure there was nothing else she missed.

When she had found they had gotten everything, she turned around, "Alright, we got everything. Let's get moving."

Clint nodded, turning out the light behind him, and closing the door to his room behind him. They began to walk downstairs, but then they both stopped cold when they heard murmuring nearby, sounding to be outside. The two of them rushed back up the stairs, and Paula growled lightly as she saw the gang leader returning with his two cohorts she had seen at the mall.

"Dangit! Clint, they're coming back!" she said to Clint.

"I can tell." he replied, "Better get to the attic, just in case." The two quickly scrambled into the attic for the second time and walked up the stairs, back into the drafty attack. They waited for a few minutes, to see if the gang members were coming back for something or just roaming the area.

"I knew it. I told you they wouldn't be gone for long." Clint sighed.

"I guess you were right. Be we still got the stuff, didn't we?" Paula replied.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna get it all out of here without being seen? There's no way either of us could both hold all this stuff and leave the way we did last time." Clint realized.

Paula gulped to herself, "Oh great, you're right. If they find out we're here, there's no way we'll be able to get out of here without them knowing someone was here. We'd have to fly away at top speed, and they'd both hear us and see our energy trails."

Not too long after, they again began to hear the sound of people walking up the stairs to and from the second and first floors.

"Crap. They're probably going to check on that stuff we nabbed. When they find it gone, who knows what they'll do." Clint replied. Paula was listening at the edge of the steps, hearing them talking. It was definitely the three jerks from the mall, the leader in the jacket, the red-orange haired one, and the one with the brown hair. She had found out the one with the red-orange hair was "Morgan", and the brown-haired one was "Harry". She had then remembered that Morgan had said another name, "Rowan" or something like that. That must've been the name of the leader of the bunch.

"Hold on guys, I forgot my little secret weapon in the back closet." Rowan had said loud enough for Paula to hear him.

"You're right, they're heading for the closet. The leader..." she started.

"I can hear them fine Paula." Clint shushed her quickly.

"I'll be right with you Morgan!" Rowan then called, as they heard him below them.

"What the... where the hell is the ring!" he shouted out, "Do one of you idiots have my jade ring!"

"No Rowan, I haven't seen that ring of yours in several days." Harry had replied.

"Yeah, wuts' so important about dat' thing anyways?" Morgan asked.

"That strange guy gave it to me and told me to hold on to it. It's been a good luck charm, and it seems to give me a strange edge. Haven't you noticed!" Rowan said back.

"Not really man." Harry replied.

"So that's what this thing's all about." Clint said, looking to the jade ring Paula had been holding onto, "Wonder what strange guy he's talking about. Can you read into his mind?"

"I'd have to get a little closer." Paula whispered.

"Where the hell... is it? I can't have lost it! The powers of that ring are important to our plans!"

_Powers! This thing is enchanted?_ Paula thought to herself, _I better make sure that guy never gets his hands back on this thing._

Both of them almost jumped when they heard a enraged scream, "WHERE THE HELL IS THE MONEY AND THE PRODUCT! ALL OF IT IS GONE!" Rowan bellowed.

"The dough is gone!" Morgan growled in anger.

"Even that strange drug?" asked Harry.

"Yes, some bastard must've stolen all of it, and the ring too!" Rowan growled. Clint and Paula knew there was a near 100 chance they were in for it if they stayed any longer.

"Rowan, how could someone have just come in and took all of that stuff in less than 15 minutes! They would have to have known about us using the place. None or Jermaine's boys hang around here!" Harry exclaimed.

_Jermaine must be a leader in the Bloods or something._ Clint thought to himself.

"Wait a sec' Rowan, maybe the culprit's still hidin' in the house somewhere!" Morgan had suggested.

They heard Rowan reply, "Well then find him, QUICKLY! He cannot be aloud to get away with the drug or the ring, especially the ring!"

"And the money too man." Harry said.

"Damn the money! The money is worth nothing compared to the value of that ring! Find the damn thing now!" Rowan growled back in anger.

"Let's get outta here now." Clint suggested.

Paula nodded, and the two began to edge over to the missing window, but just before they hit the window, they heard Morgan shout, "I heard sumthin' from upstairs Rowan! He mus' be in the attic!"

Clint looked to Paula, "Go. Get out of here, run back on your own."

She looked back, "What!"

"Do it. I'll distract them from you. If they see me, they'll think I've got their stuff, not you. I don't want them going after you if I can help it." Clint replied.

"Not that it'd matter, but if you insist." Paula replied.

Clint saw her quickly vanish from near him, just as he began to hear the attic door open. There was no indication that Paula had been spotted leaving, just as he had hoped. He charged up his ki suddenly, causing an additional gust of air to flow through the attic.

As he prepared to fly off, he could've sworn he heard Rowan scream, "What in the blue hell!"

Clint charged out of the room quickly. Rowan, Morgan and Harry had just barely gotten up to the top of the attic before Clint's energy trail had began to fade.

"What the hell! Someone wuz' definitely up here!" Morgan growled.

Rowan looked at the vacant opening in the window with a glare of murderous rage, "BASTARD! COME BACK HERE!" he growled, and turned to his two friends, "GO AFTER HIM YOU IDIOTS! NOW!"

Harry and Morgan gulped and jumped down quickly, and all three of the gang members quickly left the house, and Harry and Morgan had unsheathed weapons. Harry was carrying a Beretta 21 Bobcat INOX**7**, a sub-compact handgun with great accuracy, where as Morgan was carrying a sharpened machete. Strangely, Rowan did not seem to have anything to bring out, as they ran down the many streets in rage, looking for the person who had stolen their property. They swore the culprit was going to suffer dearly for this. Rowan was not happy his Jade ring had been stolen. It had been given to him as a gift from a mysterious benefactor who had told him it possessed the potential to make him into something much along the lines of a god. He could not let some unworthy idiot get his hands on it.

Clint watched the three of them make fools of themselves, screaming and yelling at each other as they tried to look for him. He snickered, knowing they wouldn't think to look straight up to find him. He knew that antagonizing them like this wasn't the best idea in the world, but he was not happy about what these jerk-offs had done both to his house and his neighborhood, so he figured he could mess with them a little. Besides, he wasn't about to let them find out Paula had any hand in their misery, and the fact she had all of their stuff and not him. He flew over a distance away and landed behind a building which conveniently concealed him from their current vision.

He figured he'd lead them around the bush a little, "HEY CRIPTARDS! OVER HERE! COME GET SOME IF YOU DARE!" he called from behind the building, and then quickly taking off before they could react.

He was way up in the air by the time the three gang members had reached the place he had yelled at them from.

Rowan was visibly pissed off, and he was not in the mood to keep it silent, "YOU'D BETTER COME OUT RIGHT NOW, BEFORE YOU FIND YOURSELF WITHOUT YOUR BALLS!" he growled.

Clint landed behind another building a good distance away. "COME OVER HERE AND TRY IT, I DARE YOU, YOU BALL-LICKING FRUITS!" he called out, how with an angry enough voice.

He then smirked as he took to the air again and was above them as they reached where he just had been.

"What the hell! Dis bastard's fast!" Morgan replied.

"No kidding!" Rowan growled, "Where did he go?"

Clint watched in interest, realizing he was close to Waterworks Park, just outside of the main part of his neighborhood. He decided to lead them over towards there.

Landing behind a conveniently placed building, he called, "WHAT'S WRONG, TOO FAST FOR YOU CLOWNS! I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE PARK, YOU BASTARDS!"

He then took to the air and flew off above the park again. He watched with interest as Harry, Rowan and Morgan rounded the side of the building he had called from, and walked over into the park, looking around cautiously for him.

"Split up, and find him. I want my damn ring back!" Rowan growled at the two of his comrades. Morgan and Harry nodded, and the three split up, looking at the various ends and corners of the park. Rowan was getting more and more pissed.

They looked for about 2 minutes before Rowan lost his composure, "WHERE THE HELL IS HE!"

Rowan's yell was answered by a venomous voice, "Looking for me?"

Rowan looked to his west, and he saw Clint standing there, but he growled as he made out completely what had happened. He was holding Morgan up by the throat, his machete dropped a few feet away, and Clint almost looking to be ready to choke the red-haired gang member into unconsciousness.

"Put him down now!" Rowan growled, calling Harry over, who pointed his Beretta at Clint.

Clint smirked, _Idiot, if he really thinks that little peashooter will hurt me as I am now, he's got no clue what's really about to happen to his punk ass._

"Come now, do you really want to kill your friend here. I know you three are friends. I heard you blabbing back in that house." Clint taunted them.

Harry and Rowan growled. Clint was right, he couldn't bring himself to risk killing Morgan, he was a friend since childhood, and Crips were loyal to each other to the core.

"Harry, put the gun away." Rowan growled.

Harry grumbled, but understood, and did as his friend and leader asked.

"Put him down! We just want the shit you took from us, nothing more!" Rowan replied.

Clint looked over, "You talking about a jade ring and a bunch of metal boxes with money and drugs?"

"Yes, if you give them back, we'll back off and let you live. How does that sound?" Rowan replied.

"Sounds interesting, but first off, why should I care so much! You bastards ruined my neighborhood and are using my old house for you sick little plans!" Clint growled back. Rowan was astonished.

"You used to live in that place! No wonder you knew were to look for my stuff!" he growled.

"Yes, and you Crip bastards are sticking your noses out a bit too far for your own good!" Clint growled.

"And what the hell do YOU think you really know!" Rowan growled, "We're trying to improve this city, not destroy it!"

"What the hell kind of bullshit are you preaching!" Clint growled, "My neighborhood does not look like it has improved in anyways since I left it many years ago!"

"There will be some sacrifices in the road to perfection." Rowan said, "The Newton Zone has been falling into decline even before we established ourselves as a power in this city, not even we can really save it."

"Then what the hell's the point of all that shit of your I took? You're so pissed off about some stupid ring. You even disregarded the money in comparison!" Clint growled.

"That ring contains a power beyond your shallow imagination." Rowan growled, "You are not worthy of using it! Now where the hell is it! Where is the other stuff?" Rowan asked.

"I don't have it anymore. If you hurry, you might find them before someone else does. You'd be surprised how far I can throw things. The ring is probably in Stadium Park by now!" Clint said, making a clever lie to keep Paula's involvement a secret. Rowan growled, he noticed Clint was not in fact carrying the boxes of money, or the one with the strange drug in it, but he could've been lying about the ring.

"How do I know you're not trying to keep the ring for yourself?" Rowan asked.

"Come on, it's a stupid old ring. What use is it to someone like me? I only stole that stuff to piss you off, and it looks like I succeeded very well." Clint smirked back.

Rowan grumbled, it did sound sincere enough. Clint did sound like one to just do something to piss them off. He must've been really mad at them about his old house.

Rowan growled, "Fine. But I want my friend back, or I will not leave."

Clint smirked. He had a feeling he knew what would happen if he let Morgan go, but he knew the results would be for naught, and it might actually be enough to scare the shit out of them.

"Fine, here you are." he said and shoved Morgan over to Harry and Rowan.

Rowan cleared his throat, "Well then, I guess we're off. I'll let you off with a warning this time kid. But if I find my ring is no longer around, I will swear upon my life to kill you if we meet again."

"I look forward to your attempt, you jackass, now go." Clint taunted back.

Morgan snarled, but Rowan held him back, "Forget about him, Morgan. He'll be history some other day anyways. The rest of us will get him another day. The ring is more important to me now than his hide!"

Clint watched as the three turned to leave, and he watched them carefully as they began to jog off towards Monument Park, which was on it's way towards Stadium Park. He waited until they were a set distance away, and then turned around. He sensed out at them as they moved away. After he had been turned around for 3 seconds, he felt them stop, and head back in his direction. He decided to continue to act like he hadn't known.

"They're gonna try to axe me now when they think I'm not aware. Stupid bastards. Let them try. Gives me a real reason to bust their asses for this." he growled. Suddenly, he heard a loud boom ring through the park. A felt a tiny object hit him in the back of the head, almost like a pebble.

_BINGO. I KNEW IT._ he thought to himself.

After 2 seconds, he turned around, a look of murderous rage, correctly directed at Harry, who had been holding out his Beretta, having apparently firing a shot.

Harry saw this and looked on in horror, "WHAT THE FUCK! HE'S STILL STANDING!"

Morgan's jaw was agape in horror as well. However when he looked at Rowan's face, he was puzzled to see Rowan had merely had a raised eyebrow at this. "Rowan, he's still alive. It doesn't look like he even FELT dat!" Morgan stammered.

"I noticed that, boys." Rowan replied.

He walked up a couple of steps close to Clint. "You... you're a bit different. Not like the other people around this place."

Clint growled, "What do you mean?"

Rowan smirked, a smirk that made Clint spooked. "I guess I finally get to test this on a LIVE target!" Rowan then shouted, a look of semi-glee on his face, as he threw his arms out. Clint could swear it almost looked like he was going to shoot a blast, but he couldn't sense anything, he Rowan must've been trying to scare him.

"Look, I don't know what kind of shit you're trying to pull, but the deal's off. You're about to have your ass kicked around this park, you backstabbing liar!" Clint growled.

"I doubt that, you fool." Rowan smirked.

Clint chuckled, _So he's going to actually fight me. He won't last very long. His powerlevel at best is close to 100. If I were still normal, I would be in serious trouble, but as I am now, he can't do shit to me!_

Rowan furrowed his eyebrows, "Alright, let's get this over with!"

Clint suddenly looked on at him with a confused expression. As he looked at Rowan's green eyes, he swore he could see them beginning to glow lightly.

"WING BLASTER!" he then heard Rowan scream. Clint suddenly found himself flying backwards almost 60 yards, smashing into a line of trees behind him. Not expecting such a sudden hit, he had his powerlevel down to about 25, and the attack did its' fair share of damage.

"What the hell!" he cried, pulled himself up, "What the hell was that!"

"You might have noticed I don't appear to be holding a weapon. There's a reason I don't need one, and this is one of them! WING BLASTER!" Rowan screamed.

Clint was again picked up by a large gust of wind and smashed through a few more trees. However this time he had his power at maximum, at least what he could do within the constraints of the curse.

_Ouch! Dammit! What the hell is he doing? I don't sensing any change in his ki at all!_

Rowan smirked, "Since you're about to become food to the wind, I guess I could explain that ring to you before you die. The ring, along with a strange drug was given to me by a mysterious benefactor. He claimed it was enchanted with the power to allow its' user to tap into the air and winds. I used the ring for nearly two weeks and practiced my skills. Soon I found I was able to an ability of my own without having to wear the ring. I call it the Wing Blaster**8**. What do you think?"

Clint snarled, _SHIT. That was MAGIC he used on me! No wonder I couldn't feel it! I can't sense Magic, and I hardly have any defense against it either! Dammit, I might actually need some help afterall with this asshole!_

Rowan smirked, still looking down at Clint's lying form, "So are you ready to curl up and die, or should I blast you one more time, to make my point. Heheheheh."

Clint smirked, "No, actually now it's YOUR turn, bastard!" he growled as he suddenly fired a medium-sized ki blast that hit it's mark true, hitting Rowan right in the stomach.

Harry and Morgan looked on in surprise as they watched their leader and best friend get walloped with a horrifying attack. Rowan looked as if he had been suckerpunched by a freight train as he flew back and smashed in to the ground, not moving. Clint flipped to his feet, and looked at Rowan with a look of satisfaction.

"Who's about the curl up and die now, you bastard!" he growled.

Harry and Morgan stared at him with horrified looks on their faces, fearing they were next. Clint decided he would oblige and began to walk over, intending to make them squeal for their lives. Even if he didn't plan to kill them he didn't care how much he hurt them as long as they lived. As he began to draw in closer, he suddenly felt a serious hit to the back of his head, and was knocked to on his face, hitting the ground hard. He growled and got back up, just in time to dodge a...

_A KI BLAST!_ he thought in shock, as he looked over to Rowan, who had his arm outstretched as if he had been the attacker.

He looked on at Clint with a smirk, "Finally... a WORTHY opponent at last! So I'm not the only one who can use this strange energy!"

"What the... you can use ki! How!" Clint asked in shock, and he was now shocked to find that Rowan's powerlevel was nowhere near as low as it had been a few moments ago. It was actually higher than his maximum base powerlevel, if not by a huge amount, but enough to be a problem.

"I learned how to use it about 2 or so weeks ago. It was around the 1st or so I think. Remember when I told you a mysterious benefactor gave me the ring? He also came to me with other knowledge. He told me the world had changed all around us, and that most of us were oblivious to the change. He told me that the changes allowed that with the right procedure, I could unlock my dormant energy and use it to hold an iron fist over the Crips. You see, I'm actually relatively new in terms of being a leader. The original leader, well let's just say he was on the verge of selling us out to our enemies, the Bloods, and when I learned this, I had to retire him, permanently."

"How... how could betray your code of honor like that!" Clint growled, "I know better! All Crips are loyal to each other, to the core!"

Rowan chuckled, "I'm surprised you know that little tidbit. What were you a member in the past or something?"

"No. A good friend of mine was once a Crip. He told me of many warning signs, he told me you were rivals with the Bloods, and also the Gambits." Clint growled, "He told me that all Crips in the gang are always loyal to the core!"

"Well, you're friend's information is a slit outdated by now wouldn't you say? Besides, our original leader is the one who broke his code of honor, not me! I was merely enforcing the code! He was going to betray us, and I was the only one who knew!" Rowan growled at Clint.

"So what if you can use Ki, or Magic? I still have the advantage of experience and more understanding of ki than you do Rowan!" Clint replied, igniting a Kienzan and preparing to throw it, "If you aren't aware, I would spend my efforts trying to dodge this, because if it hits you, you'll be in pieces!" he screamed and tossed the Kienzan at Rowan.

Rowan growled, "The Destructo Disc! You can actually use the Destructo Disc!"

Clint growled, "You know about the Kienzan too!"

Rowan chuckled as he dodged the razor disc of ki, "So, I was right after all. I guess the worlds have merged in more ways than I thought! I saw a strange girl at the mall earlier. She looked much like that android chick on that Dragonball show. I almost shrugged it off as a costume, and so did my friends, but I had a deep feeling she really was who she turned out to be, and it turns out I was right after all!"

Clint growled in rage, _DAMMIT! He's probably known about this from the start! But how! How could he have..._ Then it slammed him as if he had been hit by a pile of bricks.

"BASTARD... THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" Clint growled.

Rowan was amused, "What are you frothing about!"

"This 'benefactor' you speak of, what did he look like?" Clint asked cautiously.

"He looked to be a boy of about your age actually, a bit taller, and with the strangest orange eyes I'd ever seen." Rowan chuckled.

Clint's eyes turned nearly red with rage, "OYATSU! SON OF A BITCH! I should've known!"

"Yes, I do remember that was what he called himself. I guess you know him, huh?" Rowan chuckled, as he suddenly charged at Clint.

Clint barely managed to dodge a series of punches and kicks, but Rowan finally caught up and decked him hard across the face, sending him flying backwards. Rowan zanzokened and appeared behind Clint, "WING BLASTER!" and shot him diagonally into the air with another magic blast of wind energy.

He then appeared above Clint and axehandled him over the head viciously, sending Clint plummeting to the ground. Clint barely managed to avoid crashing, but Rowan had already caught up with him and shot a fourth Wing Blaster at him, sending Clint smashing backwards through a house. Clint was not able to recover fast enough and crashed into the ground, breathing hard.

_Son of a bitch! Damn Oyatsu's curse! If I could just transform, I could smoke this guy! I'm sure of it!_

However Clint knew the curse's current toll on him would not wear off for at least another four hours. He didn't even have a couple more minutes to last at this rate. Rowan was much more suited for battle than Clint had thought.

_This is not my frickin' day! First Oyatsu almost kills us, and now this gang leader asshole actually has me on the ropes and I can't transform!_

Rowan walked up to him and picked Clint up by the collar. "You aren't too bad, at least you managed to actually hurt me a little bit. But I guess the hurt's more on you!" he finished as he tossed Clint violently back over into the park, causing him to crash along the edge of the creek separating the two ends of Waterworks Park.

Rowan walked up to him, and began to charge a massive blast into his arm, and aimed it straight at Clint. Clint knew in his damaged state that a hit of that power would likely knock him out for the count, but more than likely just kill him.

He sighed in anger, "Fine, finish it already." he said bitterly.

"MY PLEASURE!" Rowan shouted in glee, and swung his hand up to throw the blast. However he suddenly felt his arm lock up in place as if it had been grabbed.

Rowan growled, "What the hell!"

However he barely had any time to say more, as he felt something smash into his back with the force of a speeding car. Rowan growled in pain and flipped over into the creek, landing very unpleasantly in the water, face first. He pulled himself out of the water, but before he could even lift his head up, he felt a stinging pain overtake him as he was knocked backwards at high speeds, crashing into a nearby building. Harry and Morgan, who had been watching their friend beat the shit out of Clint with glee, had now turned to horror as they saw what had attacked their friend.

"No way!" Morgan growled.

Harry was pissed, "Wait a minute... haven't I seen her before!"

Rowan crawled from the debris of the building in pain, his face horribly red with a large slap mark across the front of his face.

"ENOUGH. THIS ENDS NOW! NOW YOU'LL DEAL WITH ME!" Paula growled, cracking her knuckles at Rowan with a rare look of horrible anger.

Rowan gaped on, "It's you! The girl at the mall! What the hell are you doing here! How did you do that!"

"Shut up and get out of here, NOW." Paula growled.

"You have some damn nerve! Fine, so you might be stronger than the other one, but I don't think you're any less vulnerable to my Wing Blaster than you're friend was!"

Rowan growled, "WING BLASTER!"

Paula felt the wind blow over her, but unlike Clint, she didn't budge a single inch, and she felt no damage from the attack.

Rowan backed up from her with a horrified expression, "NO! IMPOSSIBLE! HOW COULD YOU NEGATE THE WING BLASTER!"

"I don't know, and I DON'T CARE! Get out of here now! This is your FINAL WARNING!" Paula screamed back, and releasing a massive burst of ki forward. Rowan realized then and there that his attack had been crashed in the worst possible way, but he would not back down, least of all from some frail-looking girl.

"DO YOUR WORST YOU BITCH! I DARE YOU! GO ON, KILL ME!" Rowan growled, but when he looked at Paula again, she was gone.

"Scum like you are not worth the time to destroy." she spoke, but this time from behind him. He turned his head, and saw her with her back to him, but she suddenly raised her arm and her fist smashed him in the face, sending him flying back and smashing into the ground, his face horribly bleeding. Barely conscious, Rowan saw Paula walk over him.

"By the way, my friend never had your stupid crap. I DID." she growled, pulling the jade ring out of the handbag attached to her dress belt.

Rowan gasped in surprise, "Damn... you." he gasped out one final time before he fell into unconsciousness.

Clint had pulled himself to his feet, recovering a bit from his injuries. He looked on at Paula with a horrified amazement. He had never seen that side of her in his life, not even when she had gotten on his and Jason's case about the voice serum joke. He trudged over towards her and the unconscious body of Rowan. As he came closer, he saw Paula pick his body up, and turn to Morgan and Harry, who were too terrified to try to even attack.

"You two, listen to me very carefully." she said in a calm, yet terrifying voice, as she tossed Rowan's battered body in front of their feet, "Take your friend, leader, whatever you regard him as, and get the heck out of this neck of the woods. Take your entire Crips gang with you. If you see anyone from the Bloods, give them the same warning. I don't care if they're your rivals or not, you warn them. I will not tolerate your crap in this place, and I'm quite sure the rest of my friends will not tolerate it either. Your era is over. It would best if you cut your losses and leave while you're all still alive. If I ever see you three harassing or terrifying anyone like this again, I swear upon my life that I will personally ANNIHILATE you myself." and after she said that, she began to glow red, and an aura of fire began to form around her body, burning the air wildly. That was more than enough to cause Harry and Morgan to take Rowan and run off at the fastest speeds they could muster.

After they left her sight for more than 30 long seconds, Paula let down her aura, and looked back to Clint. However Clint found odd to him that Paula's expression was now of extreme worry.

"Clint, thank goodness you're okay! I got here in time! I felt a large aura flare up, one that wasn't any of us, so I rushed over quickly." she said.

Clint sighed, "Thank you Paula, thank you very much." Clint replied, "I don't... I don't know, but Oyatsu was one more step ahead of us than I realized."

"What?" Paula was taken back by this.

"Rowan... he knows Oyatsu. He met with him back on the first, before any of us started training. Oyatsu was the one that gave him the ring. And yes, it really was enchanted. He was spamming some wind magic left and right. I had no way to block it, and not to mention he was just strong enough to be a bit too much for me at base. If only that damn curse wasn't a factor, I could've probably beaten him without you having to reveal yourself." Clint replied, "Oyatsu also taught him how to use ki. He also knew who #18 was at the mall from the start. Apparently he also recently killed the former leader of the gang. He claimed the guy was going to sell the gang out to the Bloods, so Rowan took revenge into his own hands and won control of the gang."

Paula was speechless, and while she didn't show it to Clint, her anger was burning on the inside, _That creep! I can't believe this! I guess it's true! Oyatsu is probably out there, laughing at us both at this very moment from the shadows!_ "Clint, there's nothing we can do for now about it. We've defeated Oyatsu and Rowan though. At least they'll both be out of the picture for a while. I'm proud of you though. You were willing to stand up to him no matter what. I didn't see everything, but I heard you willing to die instead of run. Although it was brave, I don't recommended giving in like that though unless you're absolutely sure it was hopeless." Paula replied. Clint grumbled, "Well it's not like I could do much else. I couldn't teleport like Goku, and I don't have anything close to your level of speed. He had no clue you had been there until he was already too hurt to try to fight back. It also seems like you're a lot stronger than I thought."

"Thanks I guess. I can't lie to you though. Nina and I have been training hard lately. We started on the 12th, after the attack of this Al-queda goons." Paula admitted.

Clint smirked, "You know, if Alex were here, he'd probably starting going on about how he's worried about you or something, or some other bullshit pride like that. But I could care less. I know you could fight. Your past with Goku, and then the Giygas conflict makes it well known. Keep training, both of you. Maybe one day you'll actually surpass Goku himself. Something tells me you could." Clint admitted himself, forcing a small smile.

"Well, if you really think so." Paula said, taken back that Clint thought she could actually surpass **Goku** of all people, but he was probably just trying to be funny anyways.

However both of them suddenly looked northwards.

"Nina! She's coming our way!"

Clint exclaimed. "Figures, she can sense magic, and so can Buu. She's probably making sure we're okay." Paula replied.

As they looked up, Nina's form appeared overhead. She flew in close and landed with a few feet of the two. Her expression looked neutral.

"You guys okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're okay now. It's over Nina." Paula responded, but her face turned to surprise as she suddenly saw a shocking site. Nina had suddenly swung out and slapped Clint to the ground. Paula knew it wasn't possession or anything that might have to do with Oyatsu, but it was still uncalled for.

"Nina, what was that for!" she asked.

Nina appeared to ignore Paula, "YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID!" she yelled at Clint.

"What did HE do!" Paula growled.

Nina sighed angrily, "He challenged those three guys from the mall. And here I thought Vernon and Alex could be filled with pride to the point of such idiocy, but I would've never expected Clint to be that way!"

"What was the big deal? We beat them, didn't we?" Paula asked.

"Paula, you don't understand. Remember when I told you I knew them before? I knew them by name and by their abilities. I knew from the start Rowan had magic, and I knew he was one of the Crips. When Clint challenged him, he was basically challenging the wrath of the entire gang. Rowan almost killed him. If it had not been for YOU, he wouldn't be alive now!" Nina replied.

Clint got to his feet, and growled back at Nina, much to her surprise, "WELL I'M SO DAMN SORRY IF HE AND HIS BASTARD FRIENDS SCREWED UP MY NEIGHBORHOOD TO HELL AND BACK, DEFILED MY ORIGINAL HOUSE, AND EVEN DESTROYED MY GARAGE AND STOLE MY PARENTS' PROPERTY. I'LL ASK YOU NEXT TIME I DECIDE I MIGHT WANT TO SEEK JUSTICE!" Clint growled in anger, making Nina back away in shock. She had not been aware of any of those things happening.

"Clint wait... I'm sorry. I... I didn't know they had done all of that." she then looked to Paula, "I take it he's telling the truth. You were with him the entire time from what I could tell."

"Yes Nina, he's telling the truth. In fact, he knows more about me than I realized." Paula replied.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked.

"He knows more about my battle against Giygas than you do." Paula replied, "He knows almost everything."

"How?" Nina asked.

"The same way I know a decent part of your own past Nina." Clint replied, making both women look at him.

"Nina too! Don't tell me you saw her in a game too?" Paula stated.

Clint sighed, "Actually, YES. There is a game based off of a small section of her life. Remember when she told us about "St. Evans"? She actually was taking about someone called "DeathEvan", a demon who used the power of faith and prayer to become stronger for a strike on her own world." Clint explained bluntly.

Nina was shocked out of her mind, "WHAT! You've known this since we met! And you never told me!"

"Hey, I didn't expect Paula to take what I knew about her seriously, so how could I be confident enough to think YOU'D believe that I knew of your past?" Clint asked her in defense.

Nina sighed, realizing it made sense, "Man, this is big. I had no idea you knew this much." she said to Clint.

Nina looked over to them though, she decided she wanted to change the subject, and FAST. "Guys, there's another reason I wanted to find you. Goku has most of the rest of the gang gathered at his house."

"I know, he plans to teach them Kaioken, isn't he?" Clint assumed.

"Yes Nina, he can sense ki. He learned on his own. He can't mask it too well though." Paula cut in before Nina could ask.

"Well then you're gonna have a hard time getting the hang of Kaioken until you do then Clint." Nina replied, "The Kaioken requires a good amount of experience of both sensing and masking ki it seems. It sounds like Devin and Alex have gotten a foothold on it, although not a big one. A basic Kaioken at best, according to Goku. He's even got the guy who taught HIM how to use it helping them out." Nina explained.

"Well, I guess we might as well join up with the others. We're the only ones missing out on the party." Paula said to herself.

"Yeah, I guess so. Besides, Clint'll probably need a sensu bean or something. But I don't know if we should tell them what happened. At best, it's your business, not theirs." Nina replied.

"Well, I guess we should get to them either way." Clint said, "I'm not gonna be back in this neck of the woods for a while, and boy are my parents in for a hell of a story. Oyatsu and now Rowan, and the disappearance of the garage in the old neighborhood."

With a final salute to the former conditions of the neighboring areas, and hopefully to a different era, the three picked up slowly into the air and turned southwest-ward, and flew off at top speeds, speeding to their friends at Alex and Goku's neighborhood.

(September 15, 2001 A.D.; 3:07pm; Canton, Ohio)

Back at Goku's neck of the woods, the Saiya-jin hero had decided that in addition to trying to teach Devin, Alex, Dusty, Virgil, Dwayne, Steve, Radditz, Dan, Teresa and Heero the Kaioken, he would actually introduce them personally to the demi-god who had taught him. After North Kaio had declared it was time to really see how they would fare, the Kaio had suddenly teleported in near them. He had revealed to Goku and the Misfits present that he too had learned how to use the Kai Kai, he and the other Kaios having been taught by Kaiobito and Rou Dai Kaioshin in the past. During some of the initial training process, it had been noticed by both Goku and North Kaio that Devin and Alex, and then Radditz had been getting the hang of it the best, After about 20 to 30 minutes of trying, both and Alex and Devin had finally each been able to imitate a basic Kaioken, which was basically 1.5 times their normal powerlevel.

Radditz soon also got the hang it about 10 minutes prior, but unlike Alex and Devin, his actually was able to reach times two without much of a drain on the body. Goku was a bit impressed at this show of will from his older brother. Soon after, Heero had gotten the hang of it, but like Alex and Devin, he could only use the basic 1.5 Kaioken. Goku noticed Vernon and Jason were trying, but they were still falling just a bit short of expectations. Additionally, Dwayne and Steve were also getting close to getting it to show. Soon, Dan had also managed to pull of a 1.5 Kaioken, followed by Teresa, who while she had only gotten to a 1.5, had managed to split off an energy clone and make both herself and the clone simultaneously do Kaiokens side by side at the same strength. Even Piccolo was impressed by that particular feat of strength. Finally, Dusty and Virgil were still having some problems letting loose the energy properly. For Virgil, his inexperience was unfortunately showing very well. Dusty was close to a breakthrough though, much closer than Virgil.

Soon after so, Goku had finally sensed Clint, Paula and Nina coming in their direction. "Ah, finally! The others are finally coming this way!" he said.

North Kaio looked to him, "Late students, Goku?" he chuckled.

"Well I guess so. I'll see if I can't find out why they didn't come right away." Goku said.

"I'll watch over the others for the moment, you go meet your friends." Kaio replied.

Goku nodded and picked up into the air and flew off to meet up with Clint, Paula and Nina. About half a mile ahead he ran into all three of them. He was little shocked to see Clint in his banged up state.

"Wow, Clint what happened to you?" Goku asked.

"I really really don't wanna talk about it right now. All I can say is I need a Sensu bean. Please." Clint asked.

"Coming right up." Goku said, throwing Clint a bean, which he promptly ate. Clint soon felt his body lighten up, and had sensed his powerlevel rise a small amount.

Paula looked over at Goku, _/Goku, I NEED you to see me tonight, or get in contact with me by yourself. I must talk to you./_ she had spoke out to him mentally. To her surprise, she heard him reply, _/Alright then. You guys come for Kaioken lessons for now/_

Paula sighed, _/If we're not too late, yeah./_

"Guys, if you want to get the basics on Kaioken, come with me. I got North Kaio over here on a break to help us out." Goku spoke up.

Clint looked at him with surprise, "North Kaio himself! Are you sure?"

"Yep. Turns out he learned how to master the Kaioken himself. He can do it to around twenty-five without having to do it in bursts." Goku said.

"No way!" Clint was shocked, "I don't wanna miss this!" he said and flew off at high speeds towards the others.

Paula and Nina simply shrugged at Goku and followed in behind them, until they reached the others. As they landed, Clint watched as he saw Alex, Devin, Dan, Teresa and now Dwayne and Dusty using a basic Kaioken, and Radditz using a times two.

"I see you're all quite the busy beavers." he stated.

"Hey trouble, where were you? We got curious when you didn't arrive a couple of hours ago?" Devin asked. Apparently he didn't seem to know about the incidents of earlier. He must've been focusing his senses on himself so much all of the events of earlier had passed even him without knowledge.

"Oh you know Devin, exploring around and all that crap. I knew what you were doing. It wasn't like I couldn't ask Goku to help me learn Kaioken at a later time. Besides I heard from Nina I might not be able to use it right just yet, since I can't mask my ki." Clint replied.

"If you want me to help you understand masking, let me know." Goku called from behind him.

Clint looked over at the older Saiya-jin, "Very well, then teach me, oh enlightened one." he joked, wanting to get into a more cheerful mood, and not let the depression of his neighborhood bother him while in front of the others.

Goku chuckled, and had pulled him over to the side to explain how he had understood how to hide his own energy. After Clint had heard all of what he had to say, he was able to almost immediately mask his ki to his will and bidding, and he had to literally smack himself upside the head.

"Wow, am I a dumbass or what, Goku. I never thought to look at masking ki that way. Thank you much. All I have to say is if I had continued doing it my way, I would've never gotten far." Clint told him.

"Don't sweat it. Now, I think you should join Nina and Paula along with the others in trying out the Kaioken." Goku suggested.

In fact, he took a look in their direction. Now Steve and Vernon had finally managed to pull off a basic Kaioken, and Jason looked to be on the verge of getting it ri... scratch that, he had just finally done his first basic Kaioken at that very moment. He then looked over to Paula and Nina as Clint began to join in with the group. He looked at Paula, who aside from possibly Radditz had looked to be the most calm while attempting the move. He had noticed that she suddenly had been able to pull off a Kaioken times three within less than 10 minutes of try outs. He was impressed, but curious to how Paula had picked up the Kaioken so much faster than the others. He noticed Nina was still having problems fully bring a basic Kaioken to the surface, and Clint experiencing the trouble of the first failed tries. However Dusty finally managed to pull off his basic Kaioken right.

Vernon soon finally got his basic Kaioken working right. Soon a couple minutes later, Devin had managed to reach a times two, followed by Radditz reaching times three, and then Virgil had finally managed to get the basic Kaioken done right, which had shocked North Kaio out of his mind, and had shocked Alex out of what would've been a successful attempt of reaching times two. However he didn't fret, as his next attempt did in fact reach times two. Teresa had managed to reach times two next, followed by Dwayne and Heero, and then Dan. About 10 minutes later, Clint had finally broke out and managed to pull a successful basic Kaioken, and Nina had also managed to reach the same point, but she looked to be gaining the upper hand on Clint. Vernon had then gotten to times two as well, followed by Steve. Paula had then shocked North Kaio by pushing up one more level, to a times four, before she decided to stop for now, and sat down on a table and watched the others.

After about 15 more minutes of training, Goku had called a time out, allowing everyone else to take a break. In the meanwhile, Vegeta had walked outside once again, having finally gotten all the transmitters in the scouters up and running.

"Kakarott, rejoice, for the scouters are finally ready. Good, I see everyone's finally here, and even that crazy Kaio's here." he smirked.

North Kaio sighed at Vegeta's presence, "Hello Vegeta, how's your training been?"

"Fairly well, despite some surprises from some of our other apprentices here." the saiya-jin prince replied as he set the briefcase of overclocked scouters down on the table.

He then looked over at everyone, minus North Kaio, "Alright you foolish children, peasants, cyborgs and nameks alike." he said chuckling at the odd and sometimes nasty glares he received from the others, "I have done some important work, and it is actually quite convenient for me that you've all gathered here all in one place. I have activated the transmitters in all of the overclocked scouters we got from that clown Oyatsu, and I'm ready to hand out one to each of you. Now, when I call you up, I will hand you a scouter type dependant on how well I think you've been doing. When you do come up, take your scouter, and say nothing to me until later if you must." he then smirked at them as he opened the briefcase. He pulled out a set of five of the purple-lensed scouters.

He put one over his face, and then said, "Kakarott, you get purple. Come here and get it."

Goku walked up happily and took his scouter, putting it on his face. "You know, I like the look of the scouter on my face." he stated to himself as he walked back.

Vegeta chuckled, calling Goku a baka under his breath.

He pulled out a third Purple Scouter, "Namek, you also get a purple scouter."

Piccolo grumbled and used his ki to levitate the scouter over to him. He stared at it funny, and after about 20 to 30 seconds of fumbling with it, he had actually managed to get the scouter on his ear, but his ridiculous appearance had aroused a large amount of chuckles from everyone, even Paula who thought he looked really goofy with a scouter on those large ears.

Vegeta then pulled out a fourth purple scouter, "Cyborg boy, you'll also get purple. Enjoy it, you bike-riding nutcase." he ended with a smirk, as #17 grumbled, walking up and taking his scouter and walking back to his seat.

Vegeta then pulled out a fifth purple scouter, "Buu, you also get purple. Try not to eat the damn thing." he replied, tossing Buu over the scouter instead of asking Buu to come to him. Buu caught the scouter and immediately put it on his own ear.

He then pulled out an Orange-lensed scouter. "Cyborg girl, this orange scouter is given to you in part as a reward for your... ahem... much appreciated help against that bastard Oyatsu." he growled, a little annoyed that he would have to give her the highest level scouter out of all the types he was handing out. Although the orange-lensed scouters were not the best, no one else was going to be getting one, or a scouter of a higher rank. #18 smirked sweetly at Vegeta and she grabbed the orange scouter and placed it on her ear with amusement. Vegeta then pulled a Navy-blue lensed scouter out of the case.

"Radditz, you will receive the Navy-Blue ranked scouter. It is the next highest scouter level below our level of purple. Consider it a good will present, a thanks for helping us out." Vegeta had said, as Radditz had accepted the scouter from his prince, almost as if he were being upgraded in class. He walked back to his seat and immediately put the scouter on his face, feeling the familiar feeling of nostalgia dwell in his head. Vegeta pulled out a second navy-blue scouter.

"Nina, this scouter is also your rank, for while you may not be as strong as Kakarott, the Namek, and some of us, you are still in a league higher than many of the rest of us present." Vegeta said, blunt and to the point. Nina waked up and accepted the scouter, and went back to her seat.

Vegeta pulled out a third Navy-Blue scouter. "Paula, to you I also present the Navy-Blue scouter. It is obvious you and Nina are at around similar strengths, and also Kakarott would probably pester me left and right if I had given you any lesser level. He wanted me to give you a purple scouter, but we'll have to see first." he said, and then looked to a slightly pouting Goku, who gave his friend a raspberry.

Vegeta mentally chuckled, as Paula walked up and grabbed her scouter. She decided to mess around with it, and put it on her ear for the time being. Vegeta then pulled out one of the normal blue-colored scouters, and looked back to the others.

"Teresa, this blue scouter is rewarded to you for your own efforts in the battle with that clown Oyatsu. If it had not been for your quick thinking, #18 might not have had enough time to save us after defeating Oyatsu." Teresa blushed and walked over, and accepted her scouter, realizing it was of the same kind she had to destroy when she had confronted Oyatsu earlier that day. Vegeta pulled out a second blue scouter.

"Dan, this blue scouter is also rewarded to you for your efforts in improvement. Despite being the victim of Oyatsu, you attempted to fight back when it counted, and this is also awarded in part for your endurance on the 11th." Vegeta said to Dan, who then had walked up and accepted his scouter.

Vegeta pulled out a third and a fourth blue scouter. "Dwayne Johnson, Steve Williams, I award both of you this pair of blue scouters for your willingness to keep going, despite the trails of your own past. Dwayne I am quite aware you have a family who is worried about you, and I know Steve has his own problems at home. I too can understand such a feeling. Yet this whole time you have kept plugging away, in a way some of the others have not yet proven to match up to yet."

The two wrestlers walked up and received their scouters, then heading back to their seats. Vegeta pulled out a fifth, sixth and SEVENTH blue scouter and looked over at Vernon, Alex and Jason.

"To Alex, Vernon, and even Jason, as one of your personal teachers, Kakarott, the Namek, the Cyborg boy and I agreed that you three are worthy of receiving these scouters. Now come up and accept them before I change my mind." he said, joking around at the last comment to make them get up a little fast, which made Alex grumble at him slight. However he took his scouter, and so did Vernon and Jason. The three then took their seats. Vegeta then reached for an eighth blue scouter.

He looked over, "Finally, this last blue scouter goes to Clint. His strange ability and efforts have caught the attention of Kakarott and I in particular."

Clint smiled and walked up, accepting his scouter. Vegeta looked on, and pulled out a set of four Cyan colored scouters.

"The last scouters go over to Devin, Dusty, Heero and Virgil. Although you are still learning and progressing along, there will be a day soon you will be upgraded to the level of blue scouters, but that will not quite be today." he said. Devin, Virgil, Dusty and Heero each accepting their scouters, although Devin was a little annoyed that he was basically being ranked among the lowest among his friends, at least according to the scouter colors. Virgil didn't seem to care too much, but Heero and Dusty were slightly annoyed in the same way as Devin was.

Vegeta spoke up again, "If anyone need a recap of why you have received these scouters. It's more because it will provide us a means of communication between one and another. Sure you can of course use them gauge each others' powerlevels, but since you're all able to hide your kis now, don't take most of the average numbers you see at face value. Radditz can tell you that was big mistake in his own past if you ever need clarification."

Radditz sighed and nodded, not wanting to be reminded of how stupid and cocky he had been when he had been defeated by his brother and Piccolo. However his thoughts were broken, when a series of beeps filled the immediate area, and then disappeared. Then the beeps chimed again, and then again. Dwayne looked down and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. Taking his scouter off, he looked at the caller ID.

"Steve, we're being called by Vince." he called over to his partner.

"What? I wonder what he wants." Steve replied. Dwayne and Steve looked over to the others and moved a small distance away, so the others couldn't interrupt the conversation about to occur. Dwayne hit the answer button on the phone display.

"Well, what brings you to call, Vince?" Steve asked into the phone.

"Austin? Where's Rock?" Vince's voice responded.

"Right here, Vince my man." Dwayne replied, "What prompts this call?"

"Good, you two are alright." Vince spoke up, almost sounding frantic, which made the two wrestlers concerned.

"Yeah we're fine. You know we're here in Canton, so what's this about?" Steve asked.

"Damn, I heard you two were attacked earlier this morning." Vince replied. This made Dwayne and Steve confused, how could Vince have known about the attack?

"Wait, when did you hear this?" Dwayne asked.

"I got an anonymous tip that you and some of your new friends got attacked this morning, apparently by someone who has the power to take over a person's body or something." Vince replied, almost sounding as if he himself couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Who else could've known about our battle with Oyatsu?" Steve asked over to Dwayne.

"I'm not sure, but don't worry Vince, we're both okay now. Everyone is." Dwayne answered.

"Good, now although I'm sure I needn't remind you two, but tomorrow is the Pay-Per-View event. Make sure you guys are there on time. We went through all the trouble to get everyone to agree to move the event to Gund Arena in Cleveland, and the effort's futile if you're both not there." Vince replied. Dwayne and Steve had remembered of the event, although they had not been dwelling on it much since Oyatsu's attack.

"Thanks for the reminder Vince, but we'll be there, don't worry your head off about it." Steve replied.

It was then Dwayne had to ask the question that was on his mind, "Vince, has Garcia made it over there yet?"

"Yes Rock, you're wife and child are here with us in Cleveland. They're looking very forward to see you and Steve at the event. Another reason you two must get here early tomorrow. It will be at 8:00pm, like most other Pay-Per-View events, so you'll need to get there early based on whatever method you can use. I hear you two can actually fly with something like energy, so I guess it won't be too hard for you to get here." Vince answered.

Steve suddenly thought of something, "Wait a second Vince. I need to make an important request. Do you think we could take our new friends with us to the event? I know most of them are big wrestling fans, especially the one we told you we've been hanging with since we got here."

Vince replied, "Not a problem Austin. I take it you want them at the front near the ring, am I right?"

"Yeah, perfect Vince." Steve replied.

"Just so we're clear, how many of them are there exactly, and how many are actually wanting to go?" Vince asked.

The two wrestlers realized this might be the best time to ask everyone, "Give us a few minutes Vince, by strange luck, you called us while we were all gathered in one place. We'll ask them." Dwayne replied.

He then put the phone down on the table and called over to the others, "Hey guys! I need to know if anyone of you are interesting with going with us to a Pay-Per-View event in Cleveland!"

Clint, Alex, Devin, Vernon, Dusty, Dan and Jason immediately perked up. #17 and #18 looked amused as well. Goku and Vegeta were confused a bit. Piccolo grumbled an incoherent phrase.

"Are you saying you could get us all into an event!" Dusty asked.

"Yes. Vince is on the phone as we speak. He wants to know how many of you are going." Clint, Alex, Jason, Devin, Vernon, Dusty and Dan immediately accepted, Virgil decided to accept too, as did Nina. Piccolo grumbled again, but then he smirked, "I guess I have nothing else to do."

Vegeta sighed, "I guess it won't kill me to get out of this city for a while."

Goku smiled, "Cool, I always wanted to see one of those events live."

Radditz had grown a bit fond of the concept of seeing people beat each other up for sport, so he agreed too. Heero also decided maybe he would gain an appreciation for the few wrestling moves he had if he saw some demonstrations, and decided to go too. Paula said yes too, deciding it might be fun to see other places aside from Canton, and also it might give her a better understanding of Dwayne and Steve's original lifestyle. And Teresa decided she would go with the majority vote. It was free event, so she didn't want to waste it.

"Hey, will Triple H, Angle, Lesnar and Kane be there too?" Dusty had asked.

"They're all probably going to the event." Steve replied, as Dwayne was confirming that all twenty-one of them were going to be going.

Dwayne then walked over with the phone, "Vince said he'll probably want to meet with all of us at the event. We'll also get to see my wife and daughter there too." he then looked at Steve, "Hey, you think Debra will be there too?"

Steve sighed, he wasn't honestly sure if he really wanted to think on that, "I guess we'll find out at the event."

After some more chatter between the two wrestlers with Vince, they got of the phone, and looked over to the others. "Well, now that we know we have to be prepared for the Pay-Per-View, we need to get to our own personal training again. We won't be able to train with you guys normally tomorrow, because we'll need to keep our moves in practice. I'm sure Vince will need us to compete in one event or another. We'll also have to leave early ahead of you guys." Dwayne told them.

Goku spoke up, "Wait, then that'll be good. I could probably use my Shunken Idou to teleport us all to you. Just remember to call or have your ki elevated so we know where you're at."

Steve looked over, "Wait, I didn't know you could teleport."

"Yeah Goku, you had Shunken Idou, and yet you didn't just teleport over to us during the conflict with Oyatsu. What was up with that!" asked Alex.

"First off, I vowed to myself that since I met with the rest of you that I would only use the Shunken Idou in emergencies, and not for picking you up from one place to another. There are too many privacy issues with just teleporting to you at my leisure. Secondly, at the time, I didn't think Oyatsu was that much of a threat. Hey, even I can make mistakes." Goku replied, shaking his head.

"What do you mean, too many privacy issues?" asked Devin.

"You know, teleporting to one of you while you're asleep, or while you're in the shower, stuff like that. There's no way ki sense is so precise that you can use it to know WHAT the person's every move is." Goku replied, and Vegeta could swear he saw the slightest hint of blush on his face as he said that.

_/What did you do Kakarott? It sounds like you made this decision from trial and error./_ Vegeta said to him mentally.

Goku sighed back, and began to explain his little run in back on the 2nd, one day before they had all started to train everyone. When he finished, Vegeta burst out laughing mentally, _/Hahahaha! Now I understand! That had to make you feel very strange when that happened/_ Goku sighed, _/More of I felt like I was the stupidest person in the world at the moment./_

Meanwhile North Kaio cleared his throat. "Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Radditz, Buu, #18, #17, and all of the rest of you. I'm sorry I can not stay any longer. Dai Kaio wants me back at his planetoid now. I'm glad I for once actually got to get out of there, even if only for around an hour or so, but being a Kaio is a much busier job these days than it used to be. I will talk to you all later."

The others had then watched as he activated his Kai Kai technique and teleported back off into the afterrealm. When he disappeared, the others all looked to each other, wondering what they should do next. Devin in particular was interested in get back to his training, however he felt an odd feeling around him, almost as if something was loose, that he couldn't put his hand on. He looked around briefly, searching for the source of this strange feeling he felt in his mind. He could've sworn he felt some kind of strange presence near him. After a few minutes of trying to pinpoint the source with no luck, he decided to give up for the moment. Maybe it wasn't time for him to know what that odd sense was just yet. Soon, Dwayne and Steve had bid farewell to their friends, and flew off towards their place near Dusty's house.

Dusty called out and followed them from behind, telling Devin he was skipping the rest of the day's training. Devin shrugged at him, realizing Dusty had good reason to be curious, as he was one of the group's largest wrestling fans. He realized though that left Heero and Virgil to train with him. He did wonder as he looked to Clint, "Hey Clint, you wanna still train the rest of the day?" Clint weighed the thoughts in his head, and decided he would do so. He was still a little pissed off with the discoveries of the day, and of his near-death at the hands of Rowan. He knew that he the curse would soon wear off on him, and then he realized that it was time he was going to attempt to reach the power of a Super Saiya-jin 2. He could use all the preparation training Devin and Virgil could give him.

Meanwhile, Dan, Teresa and Radditz decided they were going back to Dan's place to make further progress on the spaceship. However then they had said that, Devin had suddenly changed his mind about training for the day. He had wanted to be with those guys once they finally did get that ship working. Maybe he could put his own hand into fixing it. He asked Clint and Virgil about coming with them. Clint decided to come along, but Virgil said he was going to go to the vacant lot and train by himself. Virgil had parted ways with all of them and flew over to the lot, followed by Clint, Devin, Heero, Dan, Teresa and Radditz saying their farewells and flying back to Dan's house. Alex, Jason and Vernon had decided they were going to stay with Goku and Vegeta for the time being, honing their Kaioken skills, at least until they knew they could use their normal Super Saiya-jin levels again anyways. Piccolo and #17 decided to stay with them as well.

#18 on the other hand had declined their offer to help them train the younger three, saying she had just bought a house near Waterworks Park and was gathering up things to put there for a living space. She did not have time for training at the moment, not to mention she looked forward to trying out all those clothes she bought. She could almost swear she was drooling at the thought of all those clothes. She bid her own farewell to all of them, and flew back over towards the middle of Canton. Buu decided he would go back to his own spot to meditate. Buu had taken all of North Kaio and Goku's words about the Kaioken into consideration, but

Buu was curious to if his body could even activate the Kaioken technique. He knew he was not made of the same things a normal organic being was, therefore a Kaioken could possibly have devastating consequences for him. Nina and Paula both decided they would just head back to their houses. Paula was tired again from all of that use of the Kaioken. Even though she could use four, she had definitely been able to feel the draining effects, and she realized she might have come too close to overdoing it back there. Besides, she had a lot of her mind from the rest of the day. Nina was also a little worn out as well, and she wasn't in the mood for training at the moment. The two bid each other goodbye, and then they told the others their own goodbyes, and they blasted off into the distance...

* * *

**Footnotes:**

Part 11: 8

**1** Yes, I never forgot the fact that Goku is still looking for his grandfather to one day apologize for crushing him to death as a young Oozaru.

**2** Paula means that in EarthBound, teddy bears were considered in a way to be like a shield during the lesser parts of the game. Not to mention she herself owned a few, and had one with her when she joined you. I always believed she was a collector of them. Hey, even a psychic has to have a hobby, man. :P

**3** I also know the whole afterlife tournament was 'filler' as well. Remember, Devin has seen the show, which has the filler scenes shown. For all we know, in reality this may or may NOT have actually happened. I'll probably confirm what actually happened another time.

**4** I might as well inform everyone, all of this about my many houses is true. I did in fact live in three different places. The first I lived in for about 14 years, then I had to go to the second house, the one Paula lives in now, for about a year, until my grandfather died. We got the trailer he left behind, therefore I moved down to Canton South district. Basically, these were some of the key events to the creation of the story itself. If I had not come to South and met Alex and the others, I would've never started the original versions of Misfits. -.-;

**5** Yeah, I realized I haven't really had Goku teleport too much so far in this story. But it would be a good reason not to do it all the time. Goku doesn't usually just teleport to someone on a casual basis, so he probably had a run-in like this at some point one time, therefore he'll only teleport in emergencies or if he's teleporting large groups of people.

**6** Yeah, I guess this is a bit of a 'curve ball', but really, it doesn't make much real sense that North Kaio could develop a move of his own design, yet never actually master it. I decided he deserves some justice and he finally mastered his own move, and yes he's grown a lot stronger over the years. It's be 20 years since he taught Goku the Kaioken, so there's plenty of time he could've used to get stronger, dead or not. :P

**7** Picture of the Beretta 21 Bobcat INOX

**8** The Wing Blaster is an attack of magic from a game I will not mention just yet. Devin gave me the idea to eventually use this attack. More attacks like it might appear in the future. :P


End file.
